


Men of Heart

by Dragon_Mage



Series: Don't Cross Mercenaries [3]
Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: Betrayal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-20
Updated: 2019-03-07
Packaged: 2019-04-04 16:22:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14024046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragon_Mage/pseuds/Dragon_Mage
Summary: After a little mishap, the Spy boys end up in a tiny predicament. Unfortunately, this incident comes at the worst time, with the teams being broken up and sent their separate ways.They have to rely on the BLU Engineer's know-how and friendship to get them through this conundrum.





	1. Bad Days

November 2009

The satisfying ring of hammer against metal sounded throughout the workshop. Bang, bang, bang. It rang throughout. The Engineer did not mind it, as he was used to this noise. He was used to his work in his own little space. He knew his space well. He knew it inside and out.

He set his work down, admiring the adorably small teleporters. It was not his usual kind of work. He usually worked on larger things, making stuff that was conveniently the right size. This was not meant to be a working size machine though.

“Ain’t that cute,” he cooed to his creation.

He picked up one end, setting it apart from the other. No reason to keep them side by side during testing. He might as well set them a little apart to keep anything bad from happening to whatever he sent through it.

He set a corn chip on the entrance teleporter. He pulled out his PDA and booted it up. He watched patiently as the teleporters came to life for the first time. These were just working models, meant to be part of a new teleporting system. If implemented, they would have speedier build times, making less work for the Engineers in regards to their teleporters and getting them set up.

The corn chip disappeared and reappeared over the exit teleporter. He snatched up the chip and popped it into his mouth. He smiled with glee at finding his project to be a success.

“Not bad!” he grinned to himself.

Suddenly, the door burst open with a loud bang, “Engineer!”

He flinched away from the door, turning to face the Heavy Weapons Guy who had burst inside, “What?”

“Engineer is late for preparation!” the Heavy pointed out the door.

“I had something to take care of,” he shrugged.

“Mission begins in sixty seconds,” the Administrator announced.

“Oh…oh boy,” he muttered.

“Move!” the Heavy turned and ran to the respawn.

With a heavy sigh, he grabbed his PDA and ran to the respawn as well. There was a lot more for him to prepare than others. Still, that did not mean he could not spare a few minutes for his projects.

He quickly grabbed his boxes, setting them in order. He would start with a dispenser up front for his teammates. Then once it was supporting them, he could set up his sentry.

“Engineer,” the Medic interrupted his thoughts.

“What can I do ya for?” he inquired hastily. His hands were moving with practiced knowledge of all his things.

“Please place the teleporter down first. Heavy, among others, require its assistance to get to the front,” the Medic insisted.

He frowned, but nodded anyways, “Alright then.”

“I know you like to set up your other tools,” the Medic insisted, “But please consider what we need first and foremost. Some of our teammates are slower than counterparts on the other team. Especially…today.”

“Today?” that was a curious notion.

“I would rather not,” the Medic held up a hand, refusing to discuss it, “Doctor patient confidentiality.”

“Alrighty then,” he shrugged and rolled his eyes. Either way he did not have much choice in the matter, did he?

“Please Herr Engineer,” the Medic pleaded, as if the Engineer had protested.

“I said I’d do it,” he said, feeling a bit miffed at the Medic’s persistent attitude. He was usually more polite than this.

He hefted the box with his teleporter, ready and rearing to go. He listened for the countdown and the moment it was ready, he set up the entrance. He hurried back inside and grabbed the other box, the one for the exit teleporter. He followed the others, hurrying to set up the exit teleporter up front.

 

*********************************************************************

 

Ames was frustrated when he was sent through respawn right out of the gate. He growled in irritation as he tried to make sense of what happened. He checked the monitor that kept track of death data. He was triple teamed by the REDs, who were very aggressive lately. Pyro’s burner, Soldier’s shotgun and a body shot from the Sniper’s rifle. What an awful combination that had been.

He pushed that aside for now. He had to focus and get his head into the match. It was hard to focus today though. He felt so damn sluggish and he just wanted to curl up into a ball and sleep. He had to get back out there though, his teammates were counting on him.

He stepped out of the gate to find the teleporter. It was up and running, ready for somebody to step through it.

“Oh! How nice!” he smiled as he stepped onto it.

As expected, it teleported him. The sensation felt a little different than usual. Maybe not so much different. Maybe just more intense? That strange sensation of being squeezed molecule by molecule and then dropped into your own body was intensified. Usually when somebody was so used to using the teleporter, it was easy to ignore the sensation, as if it was not even there.

He stepped off of the teleporter and lit up a cigarette. He pulled out his disguise kit as he looked around. Everything looked strange. He was not sure where he was. Was this some sort of joke? Everything was just dark and eerie.

“Hello?” he called out. There was no call in return.

 

*********************************************************************

 

The BLU team’s teleporter was sitting right there by respawn. Just as calculated, it was placed haphazardly there for the teammates who were slower to use. No doubt the BLU Scout would over use it anyways. The RED Spy might as well sap the thing.

He almost came out of hiding before the respawn’s door suddenly opened. He scrambled aside, peering carefully around the corner of his hiding spot. The BLU Spy had stepped from the respawn room and was admiring the teleporter placed for him. He smiled in an appreciative manner, before stepping onto it and disappearing.

Leo slowly came out of hiding, counting quietly to himself. He would not do anything that could permanently harm his brother, so he counted to make sure. When he was certain that Ames would be out of the way, he stepped onto the teleporter himself. As it geared up to transport him, he dropped a sapper. It would be timed well enough, since he did not plan to dawdle like the BLU Spy might.

He stepped right off the exit and it shut down behind him. Wherever it was set up to bring them, it was not the front. This was nowhere familiar to him. It was dark and somehow sweaty. He found his mask becoming unbearably hot.

“Hello?” Ames familiar voice called out, “Is anybody there? Hello?” He was walking across the wooden floor.

Leo pulled out his dagger. No matter where they were, they were still on the job. Ames would most probably do the same, or try to sneak around the situation if they were reversed. For now, he would make sure his brother did not know he was coming until it was too late.

He crept closer and closer on quiet feet. The darkness around them was unmoving. It was quiet here, yet it seemed big. Ames’ voice carried out for what seemed like kilometers unending. He kept his focus on his target though, using the idiot’s own calls to cover his gentle footsteps.

He was so close, creeping nearer and nearer to his prey. It was like a game. It reminded him of when they were kids, playing around the old tree that would soon tilt over. When they were kids, it was just a lot of fun, running around the tree to catch each other. Things were less complicated and much simpler back then. The adult concepts were over their heads back then. Here and now, Ames and he were adult Spies, with knives in their pockets and guns in their hands.

Suddenly, Ames turned around. Big wide eyes gaped at him and his eyebrows rose. Leo took the moment of surprise to lunge at him. Unfortunately, Ames was smaller and always knew how to get away from taller men, slipping around them quickly.

Leo fumbled, before he turned to face his brother again. Ames still did not have a weapon in hand, he was just making his getaway. This would just be another chase where the faster of them would catch up to the other, and the smaller of them would have to slip out of the way.

“Leo stop!” Ames barked at him.

He lunged at his brother, blade bared. It was a good thing that they never had weapons when they were kids. They probably would have killed each other at some point, chasing each other around in a rage at the other’s actions.

“Leo!” Ames exclaimed, darting aside out of the RED Spy’s grasp.

He got a hold of Ames’ suit and knocked him down. He leaped over top of him, ready to plunge the knife into his neck. Ames managed to catch his hands in time, holding him back. As Leo shifted his weight, putting it all behind his knife, Ames’ arms began to shake and falter. He could not lift Leo’s weight, let alone keep him off of him.

“Leo, please stop!” he cried out in French.

The RED Spy said nothing. If the Administrator was watching them on the cameras, she would not be justified in knowing that there was still a brotherly bond between them. For all she knew, they were estranged and hated each other. Besides, it made him angrier that Ames was calling out his name for everyone to hear.

“Leo, I don’t wanna die!” Ames’ voice cracked in a half cry and half screech. Something in the emotion behind those words hit him. Something about the way he said it, and the fact that they were brothers did not help either, made him hesitate.

That moment was enough for Ames to kick him in the side. In the momentum of the kick, Leo rolled aside and scrambled to his feet. He was not surprised when Ames did not get to his feet. He sat up, pulling his knees close. Tears wet his face as he looked around at darkness.

“Leo, look around,” he demanded.

He finally did. He was not sure where they were, but he assumed it was close by. The Engineer placed a teleporter here, after all. They had to be close to someplace familiar.

“Why is it so dark here?” Ames demanded, hugging his knees to his chest, “Why does the floor keep going on and on and on? It’s all wood.”

Leo stomped on the ground. Sure enough, the ground gave a wooden noise. It was kind of odd though, as if the wood was very thick. The wood would have to be several feet thick to make that sound. A normal flooring would have to have thin wood. That was, unless this wood just had concrete beneath it.

“Probably just covers concrete,” he answered Ames’ question.

Still, his brother was in a crisis position. He hugged his knees tight to his chest and stared out at nothing. It was like he was shutting down.

Leo had not seen him like this in decades. He just sort of sat there, and Leo did not know what to do about it. He did not remember what he did when they were kids either. Maybe when he was a kid he was more creative and had more ideas on how to handle these situations. Now he was just a man with no clue about what to do with the younger man curling up before him.

“It never ends,” Ames whispered.

Leo rolled his eyes with a sigh, “Sure it does. We are probably somewhere that we would not think of.”

He was not sure what kind of prank this was supposed to be, but he would get to the bottom of it. To assure Ames that his fears were not real, he started walking. He held his arms out in front of himself to make sure he did not bump into something. There had to be a wall somewhere. If he found the wall, then he could follow it to an exit.

He faltered a step as his foot did not find the ground. One foot was on wood, and the other took the rest of his body off of an edge. He cried out in fear and lurched back as hard as he could. He barely managed to catch the smooth rounded edge of the wood. It was no good, as his hands quickly slid down with the pull of gravity on his body. He quickly started grappling for a hold, trying to climb back up.

Footsteps came his way. “I’m coming Leo! I’m coming! Where are you?” the BLU Spy called out through small sniffles.

“Down here! I fell! Now pull me up!” Leo called out desperately.

His heart was pounding and a terrifying thought shook his body. What if they really were too far for respawn to find them? What if they died here and nobody even knew where they were? The teleporter was broken, so there would be nobody coming here anytime soon. Whatever mistake had led the Engineer to build a teleporter here was one that should never ever be repeated, and he would be sure to scream that at the BLU Engineer.

“I’m here! I’m here!” he could hear the other man’s voice coming over the edge. He was a little too far to the left though, looking blindly for him.

“To your left! I’m here!” Leo cried out desperately.

Neither of them wanted to die. Without respawn to catch them, they could not be assured that their deaths would be nothing. It would be something. It would be the end. Seeing as he could not feel a floor, only the thickness of the wood pressed against his chest, he desperately clawed at the edge. He could feel the bottom edge against his thighs though. It was a much sharper edge, as if it had not been worn down like the upper edge. All of it felt like wood, or it seemed so through his suit. He could not tell for sure what it was made out of. He was just certain that it was not made of concrete by any means.

“I’ve got you!” hands grabbed his leather-gloved hands.

He could not stop from panting, even as the other man heaved and pulled on him. His arms felt like they would tear right out of the sockets in his shoulders. He did not care, so long as he escaped permanent death.

He was in a state of stunned disbelief when his knees hit the wood. His head felt light and the world was spinning a little. He could not bring himself to let go of the man who heaved him up, clinging to him with arms wrapped tightly around his body. Hesitant, shaky and weak arms hugged him in return.

“Ames? Where are we?” he was not expecting an answer, he was just so shaken that he was not sure what else to say.

“I’m not sure,” Ames said quietly, “But I don’t want to move.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” Leo agreed.

There was a long silence between them. Their bodies slowly quieted, the shivering coming to a stop. Lethargy settled in as Leo slipped away from the man holding him. He sat back and leaned on his hands. He let his eyes close and yawned.

“You’re not falling asleep on me, are you?” Ames asked warily.

“I…well…after that…the adrenaline hit me hard,” Leo explained.

Ames was quiet for a while. He processed what his brother said, choosing not to be very noisy about it either. Leo could hear his clothes shuffling though, as he shifted. He was probably pulling his legs to his chest again.

“I don’t think we can work here anyways,” Ames reasoned, “We’re probably a ways out and need to be rescued.

Leo nodded his agreement. Then he realized that Ames could not see him very well in the dark and would not realize that he was nodding. “I think so too.”

“Let’s rest,” Ames suggested.

Leo nodded again as he laid back, “Thanks.”

“I’ll um…” Ames paused for thought, “I’ll keep a watch for now.”

“You should rest too,” Leo suggested.

“I’m um…we don’t know what’s here,” Ames explained, “I don’t want to be caught off guard.”

Leo nodded quietly. He paused to think this over. This big place did not seem like a location that they would run into somebody. They most likely would never meet anybody dangerous here.

“Keep watch for now and when I wake up we’ll switch,” Leo suggested.

The BLU Spy patted his shoe, “Okay Leo. Get some rest. I’ll keep a watch.”

Leo laid his head back again with a sigh. He stared up at the inky blackness that was the sky. It was probably a ceiling. How high up was it though? He could not tell with how dark it was. If only they had some form of light, maybe they could see what kind of room it was. Maybe they could make sense of where they were.

As that thought hit him, he sat bolt upright. Ames made a surprised little noise. “Do you have a torch in your tote?”

“Well I-” Ames hesitated, before hastily digging through the shoulder bag he kept hanging at his side. He used to keep important things in it at all times, so he was just used to carrying it everywhere. Now it served to carry anything important that he might need at a given time without notice.

“Well?” Leo pressed, hoping his brother had something for light.

“I…have a lot of napkins,” Ames’ tone did not sound promising.

“And? What else do you have in there?” Leo pressed, growing irritated.

“A notebook, pencils, some matches, cigarettes…” Ames let his voice trail off as his list ended.

“Great,” Leo growled and reached for his disguise kit. It had a low light that allowed him to see where he kept his own cigarettes and matches.

“Maybe we can make a fire,” Ames suggested.

“With what?” Leo asked, the end of his cigarette bouncing as he spoke around it.

“Napkins and a notebook are flammable,” Ames explained, as if Leo did not already know this.

“Yes, of course,” Leo lit up his cigarette and took a puff to relax his nerves, “And they’ll be gone in a matter of minutes.”

“The floor is wood,” Ames went on.

“This wood will burn slow,” he explained, “Any fire you make will leave a scar, but that is about it.”

“What do you suggest?” Ames asked, with an angry tone of voice.

“I suggest we rest for now,” Leo sighed, giving up on his idea, “We’ll figure something else out later.”

“Sounds good,” Ames lied. It was an obvious lie. Ames was extremely nervous and wanted light as much as Leo did.

“Just keep watch and we’ll switch in about an hour,” Leo laid back down, resting his head on his arms.

“Yup,” Ames sounded a bit miffed that this idea had fallen through the cracks.


	2. Asocial Problem Solver

A long hot day spent working had worn the BLU Engineer down. He was worse for wear and had a few bruises to prove it. His sentry lay in pieces and his dispenser was in disrepair. Not that it could help anybody anyways, the no mercy round had just begun.

BLU Soldier called it _no mercy_. RED Soldier called it _no quarter_. Some of the others called it humiliation round. It was humiliating alright, and it took a toll on one’s psyche. All he could do was sit by his hard work and wait for some ass from RED to come by and finish him off.

Despite their friendly affairs, the two teams kept up appearances while on the job. They had friends who were intertwined in intimate ways, but even they picked up the slack in this regard. Nobody was to be too friendly to anybody else, not while they were on the job. They could not risk the Administrator noticing them on those cameras.

“You look like you’ve been through hell and back!” a familiar voice caught his attention.

He raised his head to see the RED Scout. He had his bat leaned over his shoulder and his shotgun holstered. He was regarding the Engineer with pity, rather than as fresh meat to finish off. It would not be too hard, given how badly the last set of grenades had torn him up.

“Eh, just finish it off already,” the Engineer grumbled leaning his elbows on his knees.

“At least put up a little fight!” the Scout protested.

The Engineer shook his head tiredly. Losing the match just made everybody’s mood drop. Having lost and being in as much pain as he was while sitting there was only worse. It was not as if he could retire either. This was just his life, building buildings that would get torn down faster than he could fix them. Then dying so that he could be brought back to experience more and more of the pain. If the Medics could invent a safe anesthetic for work, he would gladly be the first patient to be tested on.

The end of the Scout’s bat pushed against his head. He looked up to see the younger mercenary studying him curiously. “What’s your problem?” the Scout asked, sounding like he was irritated. The way his eyes glanced around warily told him he was looking for the cameras, which probably meant he was trying to act concerned without looking concerned.

“Look, I’m just sitting here. Why don’t you finish me off and be done with it already?” the Engineer pleaded, holding his hands out palms up.

The Scout looked around, a familiar look of concern and dread. He looked to the Engineer as he sheathed the bat. His hand looked ready to go to his shotgun, but it did not. Instead, it seemed he was going the pacifist route.

He lowered his voice to a near whisper, “Look man, if something is going on, I’ll just pretend I got better things to do and go.”

“Just put me outta my misery already!” the Engineer barked in frustration. Stalling a mercy killing was basically a form of torture.

Scout looked taken aback, but he was already pulling out his shotgun. He was looking around at everything and anything but the Engineer. Maybe he was looking for a scapegoat. When he finally looked at the Engineer, there was hesitation in his eyes.

“Last chance?” the Scout offered.

‘This ain’t a social event,” the Engineer growled, “Just get it over with!”

All he remembered after that was a loud bang. It settled nicely with the easily forgotten last memories of death. In respawn, he felt refreshed and healthy. His hands were not burned from holding the metal handle of a wrench. His knees were intact and his pants no longer looked like tattered remains of an experiment gone wrong. His boots even looked spic and span, clean as a whistle, but that was just appearance.

He sighed in relief, picking up his helmet to run his other hand over it. He had a bit of hair now. It was soft and light. It revealed the receding hairline that he had fought to hide for so long.

It had been out of self-negligence that it grew in at first. He was talking about shaving it clean again when he was complimented on it. Said his hair looked nice. He looked nice with brown hair on his head.

Maybe he was a little biased. Maybe the fact that the BLU Spy had been the one to say it meant something more than anything else. To his defense, BLU Scout had agreed with him, saying that the Engineer looked good with hair on his head. He even looked younger to him, apparently.

“How’s it going?” the BLU Scout gestured in greeting to both the Engineer and somebody else.

For some reason he expected to see the Spy, but instead it was the BLU Demoman. He smiled and pretended not to be disappointed. Usually thinking about him sort of summoned the disappearing man out of nowhere.

“Not the best of days to be fighting,” the Demoman huffed, quickly unsaddling his armor. He stuffed it into his locker with his weapons.

The Engineer toddled over to his locker. He was so war weary, he just wanted this all to be over with. He wanted to be in his own space already, where nobody would likely bother him. He wanted to be alone with metal and fire to bend it to his will. He wanted to distract himself with the hammer beating the shape that he wanted into the materials.

“What about you, Engie?” the Scout interrupted him.

“Huh?” he cocked his head to look at the younger mercenary. He was skinnier and a lot rounder around the face than his RED counterpart.

“Are you doing okay?” the Scout asked. He had a similar worried look to the one the RED Scout had worn.

The Engineer furrowed his brow as he turned his full attention to the Scout, “Something you want to ask me, Scout?”

Scout averted his eyes and shifted his feet, “Nothing in particular. No.”

He noted the body language and decided to press further, “Are you sure? It seems like you and a few others have something on your minds you aren’t telling me.”

The Scout’s head whipped around to blink at him. He looked down at his feet, “I’m just worried about everybody, that’s all.”

“That’s all?” the Engineer pressed.

The Scout glanced sideways at Demoman. The Demolitions expert was probably listening with half an ear, barely interested in what was going on.

“Haven’t you noticed it?” Scout turned his attention to the Engineer.

“Notice what?” he pressed, growing frustrated at all this dancing around the topic that he did not know of yet.

“Well…like…some of the guys seem off!” Scout proclaimed, glancing again at the Demoman. The man was busy with his shoes though, paying very little mind to their conversation. “Haven’t you seen it? They’re acting strangely lately, don’t you think?”

“Heat wave can do that to you, son,” the Engineer insisted.

“Maybe,” the Scout frowned at the ground at his toes, “I think maybe some of the guys aren’t okay. I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.” He looked back up, meeting the Engineer’s gaze. “If something was wrong with ya, you’d tell me right?” the Scout pleaded.

“I…sure, I guess,” he scratched the back of his neck, unnerved by the interrogation.

“Don’t worry about it, lad,” the Demoman finally stepped into the conversation, giving the Scout a slap on the back.

“Uh…well…I think it might be worth worrying about, Demo,” the Scout protested.

“So some of the others are having a bad time,” the Demoman shrugged in a dramatic gesture, “If they needed us to know, they would have told us.”

“But if _we need_ to know,” Scout pressed, “That’s a different story.”

The Demoman rolled his eyes, “If we needed to know, they would have told us.”

“Demo’s right,” the Engineer agreed with a nod.

“You too?” the Scout looked at him perplexed, as if the Demoman’s idea was bizarre and out of this world.

“Look son, it ain’t our business,” the Engineer insisted, “If we needed to know, they would have told us. Besides, if anything, they probably don’t want us to know for personal reasons. Respect that.”

“Yea well…I still don’t like it,” the Scout insisted.

“What about it?” Demoman inquired.

“Not knowing,” the Scout explained, “Something weird is going on. I’m not the only one who has noticed it either.”

“Uh huh? Who else?” the Engineer pressed. He had a pretty good idea of who he was going to name.”

“Ah…um…the…the RED Scout,” Scout admitted.

The Engineer nodded knowingly, “I figured as much.”

“Red seen it too! Medic was acting funny on the battlefield today,” Scout insisted.

“Medic was?” the Engineer thought back and tried to think if he remembered anything off today. The man had requested his teleporter go up first, but that was about it. “I don’t think anything was off with him when I talked to him this morning,” he shrugged, “Concerned about others maybe.”

“That’s a big part of his job,” Demo nodded in agreement.

Engineer nodded in turn, “If you’re really worried about the Medic, then you should probably go see him about what’s wrong.”

“Well, there are others too,” Scout insisted.

“Oh?” the Engineer paused, thinking back to the confrontation with the RED Scout, “And what seemed off about me that your boyfriend got all worried?”

“I-” the Scout started to speak, but cut off when the respawn door opened.

The BLU Sniper came limping in, looking like he had taken a shovel to the face and the leg. He glanced around the respawn at the faces staring at him. He did not seem particularly happy, nor particularly upset. He just seemed numb to the pain and thus made his way over to his locker.

“Hey Sniper,” Scout made his way over to the taller man, “Have you noticed? People are acting a little odd, right?”

“I don’t know,” Sniper gave a lethargic shrug.

“You too?” the Scout frowned worriedly.

“I’m tired,” the Sniper protested, “I need to get off m’ feet.”

“Here,” Scout took Sniper’s arm, before he could even finish unloading his things from his person, “I’ll help you get comfortable. We’ll relax in the rec room.”

The Scout was impeccably relentless. The Engineer could not help but watch as the Sniper was dragged out. He heard the taller man give a small and barely audible groan.

The Demo interrupted his thoughts, patting him on the shoulder, “I’m going for some grub. Are you coming or what?”

The Engineer hesitated. He really just wanted to go to his workshop and get into his own space. He wondered if the Scouts might actually be onto something though. Had he himself been acting out of sorts? Was is possible that he had not even noticed it in himself?

He hesitated, shifting from foot to foot. He did not mind the Demoman’s company so much. They rarely ever talked in general. Right now his only hang ups were his desires to go to his workshop and forget the day even happened.

“What do you say?” the Demoman threw a thumb towards the exit.

He paused, then nodded, “Alright. How about food and a cold beer?”

The Demoman grinned, big white teeth bared from ear to ear, “Now you’re speaking my language!”

He followed the Demoman from the respawn room. It was refreshing to socialize with somebody one on one. Demoman was the kind of man who always had friends around him. It almost made the Engineer feel special for the Demoman to be focusing on him for the moment. Unlike the Demoman, most people did not notice him, whether he was there or not. Sometimes they assumed he was there when he was not, other times they did not even know he was around. Some days it was the BLU Spy who knew where he was, but other days the Spy just seemed utterly clueless. Either way, he preferred his privacy and the quiet of being alone in his workshop.

A few pork chops thrown on a grill and some sautéed vegetables later, the two of them ate with gusto. He especially enjoyed the way the juices intermingled between the veggies and the pork. He cut up the pork and ate all of it together, enjoying the intermingling flavors.

“Ye ain’t out of sorts today, are ya?” the Demoman suddenly asked apropos of nothing.

The Engineer stopped mid crunch and looked at him. He was a bit stumped at the question, mostly because it came from nowhere. He was not sure what to do at the moment, so he slowly chewed his food to swallow. No point in trying to talk through a mouthful of delicious food. It afforded him a few extra seconds to think about what to say.

“No, I don’t think so,” he said, but his voice sounded less sure than he was of that.

“Good,” the Demoman nodded, “I was just checking. Scout’s digging got under my skin a bit. Now I’m worried if something’s up with doc.”

“Do you think that something is wrong with doc?” the Engineer inquired.

“I’m not sure,” Demoman scratched his neck, “Honestly I did not pay much attention to him this morning. He could have been stressed out. He doesn’t talk about private patient matters, but it shows when he gets all stressed out that something’s wrong.”

The Engineer paused to think again, looking at his fork, “You two are friends, aren’t you?”

The Demoman nodded somberly, “Yea.” He resumed eating his pork, as his worry seemed to slip away.

“I think Scout’s just…getting worked up over nothing,” the Engineer dismissed the matter and resumed eating. The green beans in this mix were fantastic. He had to know where they were getting these greens.

“Maybe,” Demo said through a mouthful of food. That grated on the Engineer’s nerves a little bit. “I’ll go talk to him later. Just drop in to see how he’s doing. You know?”

The Engineer nodded and finished his food. He took his dishes to the sink and washed up. The Demoman followed his lead. With that, the Engineer made his leave, seeing as the conversation had died anyways. He needed some alone time and his workshop was not filled with projects for nothing.

He strolled casually down the hall. He dared not look as though he was in a hurry to get away from the Demoman. That might look bad on him as a friend. That was not his intention. He waited until he was around the corner to pick up his pace, hurrying to his workshop at the far side of the base.

He opened the door to a musty smell. The forge had died that morning, leaving him with a positively gray and dark room. The gloom was chased away as he pulled the string on a primary light, shining a weak yellow light on the room. The bulb in that light was far overdue to be changed, but he was just too distracted to worry about it. He would get to it another time.

He walked over to his writing desk, where he had a set of blueprints laid out. Of course, he remembered his teleporter project. He smiled as he looked over the plans. He nodded to himself upon seeing that everything was how he left it. The plans were ready, he just had to scale everything up to the size appropriate for a full grown man.

He turned around to walk over to the work bench he left the model teleporters on. He was halted midstep as he looked upon something on the table. His heart jumped as an instinctual response set his heart racing with adrenaline. Confusion settled into a puzzled sensation, curiosity drawing him towards the tiny thing. Moving separately, he realized that they were two small things, smaller than half a foot high each. They were waving at him with appendages like arms, standing upon two legs, with no fur or scales anywhere to be seen. In fact, they looked just like little men, little men in prim and pressed suits, one red and the other blue.

“Engineer!” the blue one began to bounce up and down.

“Get over here you idiot!” the red one shouted, a clear rage building up.

“How did you get so big?” the blue one’s voice was strangely pitched yet somehow familiar. It took him only a moment to realize who it was as he continued talking. “You’re like a giant!”

“We’re on a table!” the red one exclaimed, peering over the edge of the workbench.

“Oh my!” something like French expletives came from the BLU Spy’s mouth as he looked around.

“How did you-? I mean…what…?” he was so confused that he was not sure what to make of this.

“Place a teleporter here!” the RED Spy demanded, pointing by himself.

“You boys are…is this a Merasmus prank?” he frowned taking a few more steps closer to cover the distance. He could see them more clearly now. He pulled on his intensive work goggles, giving himself a better look. Most people did not know that these goggles were actually enhancive, making smaller projects easier to work on as he could see the details. It was like a magnifying glass that did not enhance to too much extreme. “Holy hell.”

“No prank,” the BLU Spy insisted, “Merely an accident.”

“Whatever happened was because of _your_ teleporter!” the RED Spy barked at him scornfully.

The Engineer looked to the RED and looked around the table. He spotted the remains of two small teleporters and frowned. Both of them were nothing more than rubble now, left in disrepair as if they had been sapped.

“What the hell did you do?” he demanded.

“I used the entrance teleporter you placed in front of the respawn door!” the BLU Spy insisted of his innocence, “That’s all I did! And then I ended up here!”

“You left an active teleporter on in your workshop,” the RED Spy said, seething with anger.

“I didn’t…that was…those were models!” the Engineer pushed his helmet back, scratching the top of his head.

“He couldn’t have known this would happen,” the BLU Spy insisted, “Don’t yell at him.”

“He did a foolish dumb thing with his toys. Now we’re paying for it! Place a teleporter here and put another one over there!” the RED Spy pointed to the table again, then to the floor by the door.

“Those were just model teleporters,” the Engineer said, too flabbergasted to try what the RED spy had just told him to do.

“Oui, and you’ll be model size when I cut you!” the RED Spy was grinding his teeth now, and the Engineer could hear it.

“Leo, stop grinding your teeth!” the BLU winced at the sound.

“I’m angry,” the RED insisted.

“It’s still not good for your teeth,” the BLU insisted.

“A model this small…” he gestured with both hands to where the model exit teleporter had been, “It can’t possibly have connected with a normal sized teleporter.”

“Well it did. Great job,” the RED Spy spoke with irritated sarcasm.

“Don’t beat yourself up,” the BLU Spy insisted, “It’s not your fault.”

“Not his fault?!” the RED Spy rounded on his BLU counterpart, “He built these and set this up!”

“Yea, but not on purpose. He could not have known this would happen,” the BLU insisted defensively.

“He could have prevented it by deactivating these model teleporters,” the RED Spy kept grinding his teeth.

“Ew stop that!” the BLU protested, with a visible shiver.

“Both of you knock it off. Stop fighting,” the Engineer said sternly, “I know I fucked up. I didn’t mean it to. It should not have been able to connect, but it did anyways. I’m sorry. If you could stop fighting, it would allow me to think.”

The two Spies went silent. They stared at him too. They stared at him for a long time. Neither of them waivered, both used to being in various types of social situations. What was worse was knowing that they were better at this social thing than the Engineer was.


	3. Inconvenient Impractical Problems

It was growing more and more difficult to keep a positive attitude considering the circumstances. At least the well-lit space in the Engineer’s personal room felt more comfortable and safer than the hot darkness of his work bench. The two Spies sat quietly on a bedside table. Leo was huffing mad about not having any more cigarettes. Ames was a little disappointed that he could not help his brother. As bad as cigarettes were for his body, his mind was a little less stable when he could not have his fix.

The clock sitting nearby was louder than Ames remembered. It was usually so quiet, but the tick just seemed so big now. He could not ignore that loud _click clack click clack_ sound.

“Ugh!” Ames cried out in frustration. He flopped down upon the flat of the bedside table.

“What?” Leo asked irritably. He was clearly itching for another cigarette.

“It’s so boring!” Ames proclaimed, “And that clock is annoying.”

“You cannot turn off a clock,” Leo protested.

“Can’t you?” Ames wondered.

The door creaked and the Engineer came in. He hesitated a moment, glancing their way. It must be strange for him, having small people in his personal room. Ames would be weird about it too. Then again, this was weirder for him and his brother, being stuck at this size. Ames at least knew the feeling of having company in his room once, having hosted a small teddy bear-like ragdoll whose mind was very much alive.

The Engineer resumed to his wardrobe tucked in the corner. He placed some things wrapped up in soft cloth at the bottom of the wardrobe with his shoes. He proceeded to flip through the clothes he had in there.

“What are you looking for?” Leo called to him. The Engineer did not seem to hear him that time, so Leo stood up. Ames thought this was humorous, since standing up would not make his voice any louder. “What are you looking for?” Leo shouted to the Engineer.

“Huh?” the Engineer’s head swiveled around to look at them. Apparently he heard, but he did not hear clearly enough.

“I said, ‘What are you looking for?’” Leo called to him.

“Oh, I’m just…” the Enginer paused, looking at the clothes his hand had landed on, “I’m picking out an outfit for tomorrow.”

“Aren’t those all the same?” Leo asked, flopping back down to dangle his legs over the edge of the table.

The Engineer hesitated again, “I suppose so.” He carefully lifted the clothes he had picked out of the wardrobe and slipped out the door.

Leo made a gesture with his hands. He did not say anything though, so it was unclear as to why he was doing that.

“What?” Ames inquired in French.

Leo turned to look at him, “He just…ran out.”

“Do you expect him to change in front of us?” Ames inquired.

“We could turn around and not look,” Leo suggested, with a roll of his eyes.

“He’s shy,” Ames explained, “He’s…shier than a sheep.”

“Would a sheep actually be sheepish though?” Leo inquired.

“I’m not sure, I’ve never met a sheep,” Ames rubbed his chin as he thought about it.

“I suppose you would have to meet a sheep then to know,” Leo shrugged and turned back to stare out at the room.

“I know you’re down about not having any more cigarettes, but please don’t be brash,” he requested.

“I am not being brash!” Leo turned back to him defensively, “I was merely taken aback by this situation. If you have a problem with me, just say it!”

“No, Leo. I don’t have a problem with you,” Ames said, raising his hands defensively as he sat up properly, “I just…Engineer is sensitive. You know? He’s a soft boy.”

“I’m pretty sure he is a man,” Leo’s fingers went instinctively for a cigarette before he reminded that appendage that there were no more cigarettes to smoke.

“The point is he is shy,” Ames insisted, “Just be nice?”

“Why? He put us in this predicament,” Leo growled in frustration.

“Not on purpose!” Ames protested, “He would never do that. Besides, how could he have known it would have done this to us.”

“Accident or not, he still did this,” Leo said irritably.

“Well, it’s not like we have many options to help us,” Ames protested, throwing his arms up in the air.

“Really? You don’t think the other Engineer might help us better? Frankly, I trust being in a shy sheepish man- excuse me, boy’s hands much less than in my own team’s Engineer,” Leo spoke with a sharp tone that bit at Ames.

“Fine fine,” Ames tried to assure his brother, “Let’s just be nice, okay? He’s going to try and help us figure this out. You’re only going to stress him out and cause problems if you make him anxious.”

“I make him anxious?” Leo gave him an incredulous look, “I’m maybe five centimeters tall!”

“He is socially awkward,” Ames admitted, “It means that your height isn’t the problem.”

“What is then?” Leo turned away fiddling with some lint on his slacks.

“Your attitude, your words, your tone,” Ames listed.

“If me being frustrated with my situation is affecting him negatively, then maybe he’s in the wrong profession,” Leo said snarkily.

As he was speaking, the Engineer slipped into the room. Ames was glad the American did not understand French. He might be upset by Leo’s words more than anything. That bothered Ames, just knowing that Leo said it while the Engineer was walking in. He put on a pleasant smile, hoping to lighten the tension that he had created with his brother.

“Engineer! Welcome back,” he waved to the man.

The Engineer smiled and awkwardly gestured in greeting back. He was usually that awkward when he knew people were paying attention to him. It was hard to not pay attention to him though. He was a giant compared to them. They were helpless and without a way to get around or do anything.

He gestured for the Engineer to come closer, “May I have a word?”

The Engineer moved a bit closer. He seemed uncertain, fiddling with his thumbs and shifting his feet. He was always like this though, so Ames was not too concerned about it.

“The RED Spy and I were wondering about…temporary sleeping arrangements?” he inquired in a gentle tone.

Leo turned and gave him a look with a gesture. No doubt he was irritated at Ames for looping him into the assumption that any of their discussion had been sleeping arrangements.

“This _is_ temporary,” Ames went on, “But we do need some form of accommodation to get through this. If you please.”

The Engineer’s cheeks turned red, “Well, yes-yes of course…of course. Um…I’ll get right on that.”

Leo made a hissing noise at Ames to get his attention. “This is supposed to be _temporary_!” Leo hissed in French, “What are you doing getting accommodations?”

Ames rolled his eyes and responded with, “Well, this is clearly going to take a while. It is not as if he has the model teleporters still working.” He put a certain bite to his tone, so that Leo would realize that he was inferring his fault for breaking the teleporter they came through.

“It is my job to sap the teleporters!” Leo protested with a hiss of frustration, then gestured angrily at the Engineer, “It’s his job to teleport _you_ to your work. Not to teleport you to being a tiny creature on his desk!”

“Would you stop it!” Ames raised his voice in frustration, “You’re making both of us look bad!”

“I think you can do that well enough on your own, thanks,” Leo responded, with a haughty purse of his lower lip.

“Uh…what’s going on?” the Engineer looked so confused and concerned. He had his hands raised, unsure of what to do with them to make this argument stop. Of course he had no idea what they were arguing about, because they were not going to argue like when they were children in English.

“Are you going to tell him now? Are you going to tell him what we’re arguing about?” Leo almost sounded like he was mocking Ames. It was frustrating as all manner of fire raged beneath Ames’ skin. Unlike any man who taunted Ames on the battlefield, his brother knew how to taunt and tease him to get under his skin. “We’re listening. Go on.”

Ames took a breath, trying to ease the flaring anger beneath the surface. He turned his attention up to the big face staring dumbfounded at them. He gave a gentle smile, hoping to reassure the Engineer.

“We are simply…arguing. You know? RED and BLU? Not all good terms. We don’t get along well all the time,” Ames explained simply, hoping he would never have to give the Engineer details about their arguing.

“Oh, rivals. I get it,” the Engineer was surprisingly understanding.

Ever since the little ragdoll that was Francis McKragen influenced their lives, most of the RED and BLU teams had gotten along. Even as the doll returned to being a man, the RED Engineer, most of the teams’ members got along outside of work. Work was just work, so there was no sense in taking anything personally. Some personal growth had even come out of all of this, as Ames had witnessed several teammates come to terms with things and even learn how to talk about their feelings regarding treatment by others.

Still, Ames and Leo were Spies. There were some things they had to keep quiet. Ames managed to let slip to the ragdoll version of the RED Engineer that the two of them were brothers. That knowledge in itself would tell most anybody who had ever had a sibling why they were fighting. He never heard the end of that slip, and now he had to live with Leo being angry at him for it. So he would not let that slip out again.

“You want separate arrangements?” the question was rhetorical, and the Engineer turned his attention to the surrounding room. He scratched his head, pushing back his yellow hardhat.

“If it is not too much trouble,” Leo suddenly sounded like he was being polite, probably because being separated from each other sounded like a good living arrangement.

“I need to figure out two separate places to put ya’ll,” the Engineer explained.

“Any chance you could just…I don’t know, take me over to the RED base?” Leo inquired, as if it were some obvious answer.

The Engineer hesitated, “Ah…well…that might be a bit of a problem.”

“Why is that?” Leo sounded irritated again, gritting his teeth.

“Uh…well…um…” the Engineer hesitated.

“It’s alright, you can tell us,” Ames urged him.

“If I have to fix the teleport and you aren’t here to go through it, then there’s going to be issue, isn’t there?” the Engineer inquired, holding out his hands in a helpless manner.

“Why can’t you just test it on him, then come and get me?” Leo pointed to Ames.

“Hey!” Ames barked at him.

Leo switched to French, “It’s a joke. Don’t take it so personally.” That did not really do anything to calm Ames’ frustration.

“I won’t be testing it on you boys,” the Engineer insisted, “I have to remake something that was not yet ready for working conditions. It could take a while.”

“Then all the more reason that _I_ should stay with the RED team,” Leo insisted, rising to his feet.

Ames shook his head and said to his brother in French, “You are frustrating both of us.”

Leo merely shrugged in response, “It’s a brother’s work.”

“As it is…I’m the only person who knows about…well, this,” he gestured to the two of them, “And between everything that’s gone on already, with BLU and RED affiliations and relationships, I think we’re on thin ice.”

“What?” Leo did not sound like he was accepting the Engineer’s words.

“The Administrator has been sending messages to…at least to BLU, warning us about relationships with the enemy. It’s why we keep secrets on the job, correct?” the Engineer inquired.

“Well? Come on, I don’t have all day,” Leo pressed impatiently.

“If we add on that the two of you have…well…become unsuitable for the job…” the Engineer’s voice trailed off.

“That sounds…like we might lose our jobs if we don’t fix this fast,” Ames said worriedly.

“Well, tack on the fact that you two are too small of fragments for the respawn to pick up on, and it gets a little more complicated,” the Engineer added, a little more confident in his words from Ames’ affirmation.

“You’re worried we might die?” Leo asked.

“It’s not that anybody would intentionally harm you,” the Engineer insisted, “But looking back on what happened to the RED Engineer…”

“That was a different situation,” Ames argued, “He was a doll. And none of us really knew what to do about him.”

“Do you think anybody knows what to do about you?” the Engineer asked, gesturing directly to Ames.

Ames clicked his teeth as he closed his jaw. He had a point, but it did not feel good to have it pointed out. It made him feel like an anomaly. Or as if he was a problem for everybody else to figure out.

“Alright, so what? We avoid dangerous situations that the Engineer was in,” Leo interjected.

“It ain’t like you can do things the way he did,” the Engineer insisted, “He was in the body of a doll. He was torn to shreds and destroyed, but he could be stitched together. You’re both small, but you’re still both human…in your human bodies.”

Ames clutched his chest. He remembered finding the doll torn up by cat scratches at one point. Fluff was popping out of his tears, and he had to go to that RED Sniper, who was being an immense jerk at the time.

“I don’t think I need to remind you how that goes,” the Engineer gave them a nod.

“We deal with injuries every day on the job,” Leo shrugged dismissively.

“When you have respawn, son!” the Engineer exclaimed, somehow finding his voice, “Are you putting it together yet? There’s a lot that could easily kill you. At your size, you’re both very fragile. Humans aren’t meant to survive that small. How you two are possibly living and breathing is beyond _my_ comprehension. But as soon as you decide to go somewhere with somebody who isn’t going to dedicate time to your wellbeing, you’ll be putting yourselves in mortal peril.”

Ames tightened his grip on his suit jacket. He felt terrified. He needed to lay down. He made do by sitting instead. He never wanted to leave this spot now. He never wanted to move. He wanted to be locked in a small room, safe from everybody.

Leo took notice, “THAT’S ENOUGH!”

The two of them shared a silent glance before looking away. The look was all Ames needed to feel affirmed for the moment. Leo could be brash, sick, and a jerk at times, but they were still brothers. They were already sick of each other, but it was nice to remember that his brother was not going to let the Engineer go on sending him down this trip of mental terror.

“This teleporter…how long will it take?” Leo inquired in a calmer voice.

“Not a clue,” the Engineer admitted, “I made many of the pieces from scrap. Everything was a certain size and I have to go back through my notes to make sure I use the right size of…well, everything. A hiccup in the process could cause you boys trouble.”

“A rough estimate?” Leo requested.

“A month?” the Engineer gave him a worried look.

Leo sighed, “Contact the RED Engineer. Have him assist.”

“N-no!” the Engineer exclaimed, raising his hands defensively.

“Are you not on speaking terms?” Leo demanded.

“It’s…just that…” the Engineer hesitated, glancing away for a moment, “Look…give me a week. I’ll put together a prototype. If it works, I’ll finish it. If it doesn’t, we’ll get RED to help.”

Leo made an irritated look, raising one side of his upper lip. Still, there was not much room left to argue. They were at the BLU Engineer’s mercy either way.

“Why do you not want the help of the RED Engineer?” Leo inquired warily.

“He’s uh…” the Engineer looked shy now, returning to his usual quieter tone, “He’s nice. I just…don’t want to bother him with this. I made a mistake. Just let me fix it.”

“You do realize that you have already inconvenienced _two_ mercenaries, yes?” Leo inquired.

“I don’t want to inconvenience anyone else!” the Engineer proclaimed.

“Very well,” Leo waved a hand dismissively, “You may have a week. If you don’t finish a prototype, you take us to see the RED Engineer.”

“Yessir!” the Engineer held his hand out to Leo. Leo hesitated, before shaking his index finger like he would shake a hand.

Ames fell over and curled up in a ball. His body wanted to shake and shiver. His mind was rushing through the number of things that had threatened to destroy the RED Engineer back when he was a ragdoll. It went on and on with a huge list of things that could hurt him, given that he was even smaller than the ragdoll was.


	4. Tiny Adventure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was edited/updated due to continuity errors March 7th, 2019

The darkness in the Engineer’s room was eerie. Ames did not like just how dark it was. He would never admit that, because he might have to imply that he slept with a light on. At least he was someplace safe, curled up in a bed of a large cushion with a blanket on the bedside table. He might not be able to see what was in the dark, but he knew where the Engineer was and that was fine.

Leo on the other hand was set up in another corner of the room. His arrangements, as he demanded to be far from his brother, placed him on the floor with a similar cushion and blanket. The floor just seemed dirtier and more dangerous than just staying on the bedside table. To Ames, it just seemed more reasonable to be where no sneaky cats or anything could get to him.

When he looked around, all he could see was darkness. It was not pitch black though. His eyes tried to comprehend the shapes that were there. It was as if the darker darkness moved and shifted, his eyes trying to interpret what it was without accomplishing what they set out to do.

He heard a shuffle nearby. He looked over to see the Engineer’s form move. He could tell by just how big he was and just how much movement was there. The rustle of the blanket affirmed this. At least the Engineer slept well enough. He would need his rest if he was going to help them with a new teleporter.

He could not tell where Leo was. From here, he could not even see the corner he was in, as it was draped in the darkest darkness. For all he knew Leo could be up and walking around, pacing from lack of nicotine in his system. Or he could just be sleeping soundly in his makeshift bed.

Ames was once again alone in the dark. Most nights he at least had a light. Maybe he could read a book. All of his paraphernalia was in his room, and he was not prepared to let the Engineer into his private chambers. It was different from the Engineer bringing them into his room. Ames had visited the Engineer here a few times before, usually when the man was sick and in need of friends to take care of him.

Ames did not really have that. Well, aside from Leo. Most of the time, Leo just forgot about his brother and they went on about their lives separately. Lately though, Leo seemed to be a bit more conscientious. Maybe he was making up for all of that lost time apart? Whatever it was, Ames was appreciative that his brother came to take care of him when he was sick.

Neither Spy let anybody in their most private chambers. It was a Spy thing. For Ames, that was not really a Spy thing. As he pulled his knees to his chin and hugged himself, he realized for the first time, being in a room with other people, that he was very much alone. And that was usually for the best, but not for being a Spy.

 

The sun had not even risen, but the shadows were just starting to fade, when the Engineer woke up. Up bright and early with the ticking of the clock. He turned on the lamp, his other hand reaching for the clock itself. The sudden realization that there was a man on a cushion on his bedside table shocked him, causing him to jump.

“Good morning,” Ames released his legs to look more relaxed. He was embarrassed to look like this in front of the Engineer, but now he realized that he just made his legs very tight and now they were cramping. He laid back and groaned, “Cramp!”

“Good morning to you too, Spy,” the Engineer chuckled softly as he picked up his clock to look at its face, before replacing it. He yawned and stretched, arms going high up in the air while his jaw spread to its fullest breadth.

The sound of Leo being disgruntled was very hard to hear, but Ames heard it. He looked over just in time to see him burying his head in the blankets. Leo was never an early riser, or at least never willingly. He would rather everybody fuck off so he could sleep all day.

“Excuse me, I need to go get ready,” the Engineer shifted his sleepwear before standing up.

“Wait!” Ames bound to his feet and immediately regretted it. His legs were stiff and some muscle in his back hurt. He took a moment to rub the spot in hopes to ease the pain. He took a careful breath to calm himself, as he had been waiting for the Engineer to wake up and take him to a bathroom for at least an hour.

“Er…what is it?” the Engineer asked a bit shyly.

“I require assistance…I need to relieve myself,” he explained hesitantly.

“Oh,” the Engineer hesitated before plucking him up.

Ames crossed his legs, his face growing hot as he tried to not piss himself under pressure. “Not so hard! Not like that!” he pleaded.

“Sorry,” the Engineer placed him in the palm of his other hand, “A bit sleepy at the moment. I haven’t had my morning coffee.”

“I…I…it’s okay,” Ames said, trying to dismiss it in hopes that they might go someplace where he could relieve himself faster.

 

*********************************************************************

 

What a fright it was to wake up to small men in the room. He felt like quite an idiot for not remembering that. Then again, he had yet to have his morning cup of jo to wake up.

He was a bit taken aback when the Spy wanted to come with him, but then realized how unaccommodating his arrangements were. They had a comfortable bed, but no place to go. Neither of them could necessarily get out the door and go to the bathroom.

At least he intended to go the same way. He paused to turn to the RED Spy’s cushion in the corner. The little red man was buried under the folds of a small quilted blanket.

“Er…Spy, you need to go to the bathroom for anything?” he asked, not wanting to leave one man behind in the case that he might need to go.

The Spy’s response was inaudible groaning. Finally he poked an arm out and made a gesture. His tiny hand was difficult to discern though. Maybe he should be crouched down to him so he could hear him better.

“He’s cranky in the morning,” the BLU Spy interrupted him, “Just leave him be. He’s fine. He’ll sleep.”

He nodded in response and hurried to the restroom. The longer he was standing, the more water was rushing towards gravity. When he arrived in the community bathroom, he set the Spy on one of the industrial design sinks and headed into a stall. No way was he using a urinal while the BLU Spy was in here with him. Even as he was relieving himself, he felt weird that the BLU Spy was even there. He never used the public restrooms, to the best of his knowledge. Maybe he was sneaky and made sure nobody was around, which only made the reality that he was in there with him creepier.

He stepped out of the stall and hurried over to wash his hands. He used one of the other sinks though, so he would not bother the Spy. To his surprise, the small man had dropped himself into the deep bowl, and was trying to crawl back out, with no help from the slick frictionless sides of the bowl.

After his hands were clean, he shook them dry and reached over to the Spy’s sink. He carefully took his little hand and slowly lifted him onto the edge of the sink. He was glad he did not set him by the urinal, the poor man would have fallen into a gross mess.

“I gotta grab some clothes and take a shower,” he explained, “You want to head back to the room.

The Spy plucked at his shirt above the lapels of his jacket, “I kind of need a wash too.”

The Engineer nodded, “Alright. We’ll both wash.” He offered his hand to the Spy, who hopped right into his palm.

It was a delightful sensation. Maybe it was the level of trust or the mere act. Having this small person so willingly hop into his hand and go with him was exhilarating. Almost like a puppy who hops right into one’s lap.

He smiled as he made his way through the base to his room. When he stepped inside, he set the Spy on the bedside table and went to his wardrobe for an outfit. When he picked one out, he grabbed a towel and returned to lift the Spy.

“Uh…I don’t have any change of clothes,” the Spy admitted a touch nervously.

“Oh…” he hesitated to look at his clothes and towel. He could easily grab a small rag for the Spy to dry off, but he did not have any replacement clothes. Nor could they take those tiny clothes to a dry cleaner and expect them to be done within an hour. “I’m not sure what to do with this situation,” he pondered the issue, putting as much fervor into his expression as he could.

The RED Spy said something that he did not quite catch. He turned to the corner and asked, “What?”

“Just wear a cloth toga,” the RED Spy replied, barely caring to get out of his little hideaway of a blanket.

“I’m not a Greek from ancient civilization,” the BLU Spy protested, glaring in the direction of the other Spy. He turned his gaze back up to the Engineer and softened his expression. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. I’ll figure something else out.”

“You…still want to come to the washroom?” he asked, gesturing towards the door.

“No no,” the Spy waved dismissively, “It’s fine. Just…I’ll be okay.”

“Alrighty then,” the Engineer gave him a smile.

“I’ll survive a day without washing,” there was a surprisingly large smile on the Spy’s face. It seemed a bit too big of a smile for this situation.

The Engineer was in no mood to ask, so he simply let it go, “I’ll be back in an hour with breakfast.”

He stepped out of the room and headed down the hallway to the washroom. As he made his way back to the community bathroom, he pondered what he could do to make the situation easier for them. No matter what, they were going to be small for quite some time. They would need to get clean. And they could not simply put on the same dirty clothes every day. They needed clean laundry.

He proceeded through the bathroom into the washroom. He set his clothes on a bench and threw his towel over the stall wall. He started the water and waited for it to warm up. All the while, he used this time to think of ways to design a better living arrangement for the Spies.

 

*********************************************************************

 

Ames sat down and curled up on the makeshift bed. What a close call that had been. He almost thought he would have to explain some things to the Engineer when he was found in the sink instead of on the rim where he was left. Then again, the Engineer was never really a nosy man, and he was thankful for that.

“Are you going to sniffle over there for the rest of the morning?” he heard Leo call to him.

“No!” he protested. He was not under any blankets, but he grabbed a fold and pulled it over his head.

“You’re pouting,” Leo said.

Why did he always have to do this? Ames just wanted to curl up and deal with this in peace. He really needed a bath, but it was all too real that he would just be risking exposure. He was not ready for that accident.

“Come on,” Leo called to him, “If you want to get a wash, then you should find another way.”

“What other way?” he pulled the blanket tighter over his head, hiding his face and burying his voice.

“I can’t hear you when you muffle your words,” Leo called.

Ames lifted the blanket off of his head, “I’m not talking about this with you, Leo! Just leave me alone! Alright?”

“Come down from there,” Leo called.

Ames sighed with frustration and crawled to the edge. Leo was surprisingly already by one of the legs of the bedside table. He frowned down at his brother, a little dizzy from how high up he was.

“You expect me to just jump down there? Do you want me dead, brother?” Ames called to him.

“Yes, that is why I brought this pillow. So I could sit and watch you fall,” Leo gestured to the cushion he dragged over with a sarcastic tone.

Ames looked at the cushion with surprise. He was not sure why he had not noticed it before. Probably because he was focusing on Leo instead of everything else. Despite the cushion being big and soft, the drop down to it still looked very scary.

“Drop down and we’ll go figure something else out,” Leo explained.

“Easier said than done,” Ames said, staring at the pillow. Of course it had to be that easy for Leo.

“It’s not even that high,” Leo insisted, “The pillow will catch you, just drop like a ragdoll.”

“Alright alright!” he edged away from the edge and took a breath, “Just give me a minute!”

He moved over to the cushion where he left his satchel. He checked to make sure it was latched securely and looped the long strap over his head and shoulder. He adjusted it for comfort before standing up.

He took a breath and closed his eyes. He could not think about this. If he thought about it, he would over think it. He would rather just curl up and do nothing all day, but Leo was always better about being productive. Besides, he was giving him help to get down from the table. He might as well take the opportunity. It was not as if it was dark out anymore.

He pushed off of one foot, darting forward to leap off the edge. Leo shouted something but he did not hear it. The air was rushing past his ears as he came to land on the pillow. He took deep breaths to calm himself as the rush of adrenaline pounded on his ears from the terror he felt. All he could feel now was the exhilarating realization that he was alive and well.

“Woo hoo!” he threw his arms up in the air, “That was amazing!”

“Get off of there, Ames,” Leo grabbed the arm of his suit jacket and dragged him to his feet off of the cushion, “Let’s go.”

“Alright, alright,” he shook Leo’s hand off and brushed his clothes to straighten them out.

“Do you feel better now?” Leo asked.

“A little bit,” Ames admitted with a smile, “That was fun. You should try it.”

“Maybe,” Leo looked up at the edge where Ames jumped from, “Maybe not. Don’t run at it again.” He gave Ames a concerned and mildly irritated look.

“Sorry,” Ames shrugged, “Had to run at it or I never would have done it.”

“You’re an idiot,” Leo shook his head, “Let’s go.”

“Where are we going? And how?” Ames inquired, as he looked around the room. It was fairly sturdy in its walls. The door itself looked impossible to open.

“Mice manage to play in this base,” Leo said, walking towards the wardrobe, “I can imagine we will easily find our own way through this place.”

“You have ideas?” Ames followed his brother without question.

From down so low, the room looked so different. Everything towered above their heads. The wardrobe was massive, looming higher than a church building. He could not have imagined a room being this big.

“This way,” Leo called his attention and he followed him between the wardrobe and the wall. It was a bit of a squeeze, and they had to move sideways, but it was doable.

Ames watched his brother crouch down and disappear into a large crack in the wall. “Where does this go?” he called after him.

“Let’s find out,” Leo called back.

Ames hesitated this time. Leo was always very bold. He knew what he wanted and when he wanted it he would have it. He boldly set foot where no man went. Ames was typically more hesitant about doing that, but often tried following his brother’s example.

Given Leo went in first, any trouble they befell would befall the idiot who went in blindly, giving Ames enough warning. So, he crouched down and crawled into the crack after him. He was surprised when a light appeared before him.

“Don’t you have matches?” Leo asked.

Ames rolled his eyes, “Like I’m going to waste them.”

“I think we go this way,” Leo sighed and took the lead. He crawled under a pipeline, holding up his match so that Ames could see.

“Why are there pipes over here?” Ames whispered, “This is a bedroom wall.”

“It’s close to sinks. Close enough anyways,” Leo said dismissively.

Ames bumped his head on the piping, as it had parts of its metal that jutted out where it connected pipe to pipe, “Ow!”

“Watch where you’re going, Ames,” Leo insisted, still crawling along ahead of him.

“Thanks, I wouldn’t have thought of that in all this dark,” Ames whispered.

“Why are you whispering?” Leo asked.

“I dunno,” Ames hurried carefully after his brother, “It’s quiet. It seems like a whispering situation.”

“We’re not in a whispering situation. People can barely hear us normally,” Leo explained.

“That’s just the Engineer,” Ames chuckled as he thought about it, “He spends too much time working with loud noises to be the basis for hearing.”

“Um…most of your coworkers work with loud noises,” Leo argued.

“What’s louder than constantly banging on metal?” Ames argued.

“Constant use of a minigun? The blasts of explosives? The roar of engines? All of these sounds intermingling with screams?” Leo offered.

Ames shuddered as he thought about the dreams he had had early in his career as a Spy, “Nightmare fuel.”

“Don’t be such a baby,” Leo protested. He came to a stop and turned, scooting his legs up underneath of himself.

“What?” Ames could not see anything significant.

“I think this area is the back of your room,” Leo explained.

“So?” Ames was not even sure where they were. He was kind of scared that they might be lost. They only made a few turns so far, but it was still terrifying.

“We need to get in somehow,” Leo explained, “Your room has a private wash closet.”

“My room has a perfectly solid wall,” Ames assured him, “I’ve checked.”

“Not anymore,” Leo leaned back and began kicking the wall.

“Hey! Leo! Leo stop! What are you doing?” Ames protested.

“Breaking a hole in your perfect little wall,” was the grunted response as Leo repeatedly kicked the wall.

“Stop, that’s enough,” Ames protested. He grabbed his brother’s arm, but that did not really stop him from kicking the wall. He tried to pull him away from the wall, but ended up banging his head against a big pipe.

“Your room has amenities that we-” Leo cut off as a creaking crackling noise caught their attention.

Ames’ heart began to pound as he took Leo’s arm and dragged him away. He managed to pull him just past the pipe when a section of the wall suddenly collapsed. It was big enough for them to stand up in.

“My room!” Ames proclaimed, heartbroken that his perfect privacy was ruined.

“See?” Leo began brushing the drywall dust from his suit. They were both covered in the off white dust.

“You didn’t have to break my wall,” Ames pouted.

“Don’t whine,” Leo argued, leading the way to the wash closet door.

As Ames normally did not close the door, it was left ajar. Leo walked inside and looked up at the white porcelain sink. Ames looked around and the room he called home. It was so much different. Usually it was small and difficult to feel relaxed in. There was not really much floor space, unless you were only about five centimeters high. At this height, everything loomed over them and there was enough space for a horse to gallop.

“What could we use to get up there?” Leo called for his attention.

“Leo, why do you even want to be in my room?” Ames scoffed as he joined his brother.

“Because you were pouting, and now I’m covered in dust. I need to wash off, so help me get up to your sink,” Leo pointed up to the bowl.

“Why should I?” Ames crossed his arms over his chest.

“Because the bath is too big,” Leo threw a thumb over his shoulder at the small tub tucked into the corner that was mostly used for showers.

“Fine,” Ames sighed and rolled his eyes.

He made his way over to the wicker basket shelves. The woven baskets made for excellent footholds, despite him wishing he did not have to mess them up. The shelving of these made for plenty of container space too. He slid the bottom one out far, then did the second one, leaving just enough room to climb onto the edge of the first one. He did the same with the third and fourth baskets. The top of the shelving was smooth dark wood that still fell maybe ten centimeters below the sink’s top edge.

He climbed into the topmost basket where he kept dental care supplies. He hoisted the floss onto the top of the shelving, along with some tooth picks. He climbed down into the bottom basket where he kept old hair pins. There were bobby pins, some old hair ties that had been sitting in there for decades. He took the pins and clips and hoisted them onto the top.

“What’s this all for?” Leo asked as he climbed onto the top.

Ames ignored him as he fastened clips, pins and tooth picks to the floss. He climbed down into his hair basket for the scissors, which were placed nicely next to the hair brush. He brought these up carefully, but almost fell with them.

Leo stepped in just in time to grab Ames. He did not seem to care if he dropped the scissors. It made Ames feel a little bashful about being angry with him, since he cared.

Leo helped him lift the scissors so that he could cut the floss. Then he decided to voice his concerns, “Are you going to tell me what this is for?”

“Rope ladder,” Ames explained.

“How will that work?” Leo looked up to the edge, “There’s nothing to hook onto. The bowl is too smooth.”

“You’re going to hoist me up there,” Ames explained.

Leo sighed and rolled his eyes, “Did you come up with a plan B?”

“Do you want to sit in that dusty suit for the next few hours while we brainstorm?” he inquired.

“You’ve made your point,” Leo growled, “I hoist you up, then what?”

“I’ll tie the ends to the sink. We don’t weigh enough to put significant pressure on the fixtures. I think we’ll be fine to climb up if we’re not rowdy with it.”

“I’d be worried about the floss breaking first,” Leo picked up a strand and jerked it taut between both hands.

“Don’t be such a baby,” Ames taunted, “Give me a boost.”

Leo crouched to let Ames climb onto his shoulders. Ames put a hand up on the edge of the sink to balance as his brother rose straight up. Leo held onto Ames’ ankles as he carefully put his feet on his shoulders and rose up. He was just tall enough to grab onto the edge.

“Do you have the edge?” Leo inquired.

“Give me a minute,” he bit down on the strand of minty floss he was holding. His mouth was watering from it, but he tried not to pay it too much mind.

He grappled with his arms over the edge of the sink. He grunted as he hoisted himself up, struggling to get his upper body onto the edge. He had done this a million times before, having to pull himself into a building he fell out of or onto a rooftop. To his benefit, Leo hooked his hands under his feet and pushed up to give him some assistance.

He grunted as he managed to get his waist up to the edge. He swung his legs and took a breath to relax on the edge. That was a painfully acrobatic move. He removed the floss from his mouth, then carefully stood up onto the edge. The bowl itself was shallow but slick. It would likely be helpful to put something to climb out with. For now he needed to focus on putting the ladder up so they could climb up onto the sink more easily.

“Hurry up,” Leo called up to him.

“I’m getting there,” Ames rolled his eyes as he walked over to the sink fixtures to fix the floss to it. Once the ladder was fastened he called for his brother to test it, watching for any budging in the floss.


	5. Getting Squeaky Clean

Leo was so very relieved to finally have a chance to get to water. He was dehydrated. He needed relief. He felt disgusting. His clothes felt disgusting. Everything was just bad. He needed water to just wash it all away.

“We need towels,” Leo noted that they would get very wet even just turning on the water for a minute.

“Hand towels on the rack,” Ames pointed to a nearby towel rack. It was set adjacent to the sink on the other side.

“Can you get to it?” Leo asked.

“Probably,” Ames shrugged, suddenly feeling bold after this success.

Leo really just wanted to get on with getting washed off, but he did not want to see his brother commit to something stupid. He followed him around the basin, careful to be ready to grab him if he fell off balance.

Ames always looked like a clumsy awkward kind of guy, at least to Leo. Yet somehow he managed to have a very acrobatic type of grace. Probably because he was doing graceful things that were not sports or things like that, back when they were younger. If he remembered accurately, Ames used to be able to stretch his legs and do a complete split on the ground, though he wondered if he still could.

Ames’ confidence boosted him to doing incredible stunts sometimes, including fetching the hand towels from the rack. He helped carry these to the baskets so they would not get wet while the sink was in use.

“Alright,” Ames hesitated, “So um…mind if I use the sink first?”

“What? It was my idea to come here,” Leo objected.

“It’s my sink,” Ames protested, “Besides, you just wanted to curl up and sleep on the cushion!”

“I got up to help you!” Leo argued. He sighed and raised his hands, “We’re both men. We’ll both use the sink.”

“I-I’m not comfortable with that,” Ames folded his hands in front of himself.

“We’re brothers,” Leo insisted, “It’ll be fine. We just won’t look at each other.”

“How do you do that?” Ames gave him the squinty eyed, scrunched nose confounded look.

“How do you do what?” he was getting really tired of this argument.

“Just not look!” Ames exclaimed.

“You just don’t?” he was not sure what Ames was not understanding about this.

“It’s just…it’s just really weird,” Ames insisted, “I’d rather not.”

“Fine,” Leo gestured dismissively, “I’ll use the sink first. If you’re going to be a chicken.”

“I’m not a chicken for wanting privacy,” Ames scoffed.

“And I’m not going to look at you,” Leo proceeded to pull of his jacket. He gave it a good shake but quickly gave up on it. It was going to be destroyed by the end of all of this, so why bother? He tossed it on the smooth bottom of the sink, before he proceeded to the fixture. He climbed up using the makeshift ropes and turned the knobs. “See if it heats up.”

“It’ll be cold for a minute,” Ames quickly pulled off his shoes and chucked them off towards the shelf top.

Not having thought of that, Leo pulled off his own shoes. He added his to the top of the shelves as well. He turned back and watched his brother testing the water.

“Alright, it’s good,” Ames took off his jacket and tossed it aside like Leo had.

“Alright,” Leo carefully slipped down the edge of the sink and walked over to test the water with a hand. His socks were immediately wet, squishing around his toes. “I’ll face this way and you face that way,” he instructed, “We’ll take turns using the water.”

“Okay,” Ames turned away and Leo did the same.

He did not really care if Ames saw him. Ames was his brother and any secrets either of them had would stay between them. Well, aside from them being brothers apparently. He trust Ames well enough though. It was not like he held the same standards of privacy. The only reason he did not shower around other people was that tattoos and scars made for great identifiers, should a fellow mercenary blab to somebody who was looking for a man with such tattoos and scars. The last thing he needed was somebody with that information in case he got himself into trouble or something.

He did not really have a problem with modesty either. He had always been around men who were comfortable with their own bodies. There was no reason to shy away from that. His brother had been a special case for a long time, but nowadays he did not really think of him that way. He was just another man, a man with some unresolved self-conscious, self-confidence issues.

He just turned his back and got on with what he needed to do. He tossed the rest of his clothes with his jacket to be scrubbed individually. The dust they were covered in could have easily come out if he had proper dry cleaning, but there was not much hope left for those clothes anyways.

“We forgot the soap,” Ames voice came out in a quiet little squeak.

“Well then go get it,” he grumbled.

“Mm…” he could hear Ames thinking about it, “I don’t think I can reach it on my own.”

“Just climb up there and push it down,” Leo rolled his eyes, “You’re making a big deal out of nothing. It’s slippery. Let it slip down.”

“You’re already undressed, aren’t you?” the question was rhetorical.

“Why?” he quirked an eyebrow, thinking about how to handle this situation, “Did you peek?” He snickered as he teased.

“No!” the defensive nature of his brother’s response was fully telling.

 

 

It was a while before they managed to finish washing. When Leo finished washing his clothes, he looked up at the faucet. It was the only logical place to hang them. He launched his pants and coat over it.

“Hey!” Ames cried out.

“Hmm?” he avoided looking over at him.

“What the- What are you doing?” Ames demanded.

“Hanging clothes to dry,” he replied, “Isn’t that obvious?”

“What are you going to wear while those are drying?” Ames asked.

“I don’t know. Probably a towel?” Leo shrugged.

Ames started making frustrated noises. Leo honestly did not care what he was going to wear while clothes were drying. It was not as if they were going out where others could see them. They were literally two men stuck in a bathroom together.

He climbed up out of the sink and dropped onto the top of the shelves. He grabbed one of the hand rags and tied a corner around his waist. It was regrettably big for him though.

“Uhh…can you um…pass me the other one?” Ames called to him.

Leo looked up, surprised to see his brother peering over the edge of the sink. He lifted the other rag, “I don’t think I can throw it up there.”

“Come on, just try!” Ames insisted.

With a sigh, Leo tossed the rag upwards. The weight of it did not follow the momentum of the corner he threw. He shook his head as it fell back down.

“Fold it up and toss it!” Ames insisted.

“Just jump down here,” Leo gestured dismissively.

Ames scooted back, as if to make himself smaller, “No.” His voice was small when he said this.

“Oh, come on, I’m not going to look at you,” Leo put his hands over his eyes, “There. See? Jump down here and put the rag on.”

“No!” Ames protested.

Leo shook his head, keeping his hands over his eyes, “Just jump down.”

“And what are we going to do?” Ames peered down at the spare rag settled on the top of the shelving, “Stand in rags while we wait for our clothes to dry? And getting back up here?”

“I guess we are,” Leo shrugged, “I guess that’s what we’ll have to do.”

“I don’t like it,” Ames shrank back again, hiding everything but his eyes.

“Look…” Leo hopped down the basket drawers and began searching, “Don’t you have scissors in here somewhere?”

“The hair drawer,” Ames called to him, “You’re not going to cut the rag, are you?”

“Do you have any other ideas?” Leo found the scissors and stood them up, trying to figure out how he would leverage the handles.

“Don’t! Stop!” Ames cried out, jumping down from the sink. He crouched down, quickly trying to hide his whole body behind the other rag.

“What? Do you have a better idea?” Leo called to him.

“Well don’t destroy my matching hand towels!” Ames called out in a desperate plea.

“Well, would you rather we spent our time naked waiting for our laundry to dry?” Leo asked.

“Yes!” Ames exclaimed.

Leo rolled his eyes, “You can never make up your mind.”

“Fine,” Ames growled, “But don’t cut up my hand towels. I know something else we can cut.”

“What’s that?” Leo inquired, waiting for his brother’s answer.

Ames carefully wrapped himself in the rag, holding it up around his chest. His hands carefully held it tightly shut as he hopped down. Leo watched him hop from basket to basket down to the floor, then scurry into the bedroom. Curious, Leo decided to follow him. He hopped down from the baskets and struggled with the rag he was using to cover his groin.

“This should do,” Ames was dragging out the giant sleeve of a discarded shirt.

“You would rather cut up a shirt?” Leo was in disbelief.

Ames shrugged, “It’s all stained and burned. I also tore out the buttons to fix one of my other shirts. It’s a trash piece.”

Leo rolled his eyes and went back for the scissors. When he returned, they started cutting up the sleeve. He ended up going back to the hair drawer for clips and pins. With a cover of white cloth clipped to his hips, he felt secure, but Ames did not seem like he could get a swatch of cloth big enough for comfort. He kept cutting and cutting and trying to make something that fit fully around him.

At first he was just hanging around because he figured they had something to talk about. There was nothing better to do. If there was anything they could do, he would rather ask Ames’ permission. Maybe he would pull down some of the books from the shelf to read.

Before he realized what was happening, Ames was sitting on the floor with cuts of cloth that were just not good enough, crying in desperation. Tears fled down his face as he desperately struggled with the scissors to change the cut somehow. Leo decided to step in, pulling either end of the cloth tight so that the cut was smoother. They were silent, waiting for the cut to be finished. Once again, Ames was disappointed with the cut.

“No no no! It’s not big enough!” new tears sprung from his eyes and followed the trails.

“Ames,” he put a hand on the hand holding the scissors, “Calm down and take a breath. You’re stressing out.”

Ames was breathing heavily, unable to calm himself with just a few words. He looked up at Leo, eyes shining and face streaked, “I…no I need a bigger swatch. I just can’t hold it properly and aim it on my own.” He ran his arm across his face to dry the tears away.

“Ames, you’ve cut up a lot of it already,” Leo gestured to the swatches of shirt laying around him.

“N-none of them will work,” Ames shook his head in refusal.

“What? Why not?” Leo was not seeing where these swatches were not quite right. It was not as if Ames was bigger than him, in fact Ames was a little smaller than him.

“Leo, you don’t get it!” Ames exclaimed in frustration, “Just- Please!”

He took a seat next to Ames, “Look, I’m here to help you. How can I help you.”

“I don’t know,” Ames buried his face in his hands. He grabbed one of the cut up pieces of cloth to cover his face, likely to soak up the tears too.

Leo looked around at the mess of cut cloth. There were quite a few pieces, and a lot of them were just the right size for Ames’ waist. If they would fit Leo’s waist, they would fit Ames.

He went to the clips and pins he brought and grabbed one of the pieces of cloth. “Get up,” he commanded.

“What? No,” Ames wiped his face again, before grabbing the scissors.

“Come here,” he took his brother’s arm and pulled him to his feet.

Ames struggled to keep the rag over his whole front. Of course that had to have been affecting his struggle with the scissors too. Ames would not give up the decency for a moment.

“Hold on,” he did not let Ames protest as he wrapped the cloth around his waist and pinned it.

Ames immediately started to protest, but stopped. They looked at each other for a long time.

“Will that work, or do you need more?” Leo inquired.

Ames hugged the rag tighter and looked down, “I mean…I…”

“I know you had an operation,” Leo told him, hoping to help him process, “It’s okay to just…be a man.”

Ames listened, but he remained silent. He stood there for a long minute, pondering what he would do about it. He finally released the rag, hugging his bare self.

“There,” Leo tried not to let his sigh of relief be audible, “Come on. Let’s go relax while we wait for our clothes to dry.”

Ames followed him to the bed. Thankfully Ames’ usual bed spread hung low to the ground, allowing them to grab and climb. When they reached the bed, Leo flopped down, relaxing on the soft down. This was much more comfortable than that cushion the Engineer had him sleeping on. Granted, he thought the Engineer probably had a bias against the RED Spy.

“Are you…done?” Ames asked through his panting. He immediately flopped down when he reached the top of the bed.

They were quiet for a while, just breathing and staring up at the ceiling. Leo wondered if Ames would have more to say if they were staring at clouds. He was always the wistful sort of boy growing up.

He looked over at Ames curiously. Finally relaxed, Ames had his arms spread out on the bed. His chest rose and fell in time with his breathing, slowing as he calmed down.

Leo’s eyes came upon the twin scars tracing his breastbone. It seemed to be a fresh scar, yet it must have healed years ago. He had read something about it in the updated files, when poking around the information that Mann Co kept on its employees. He did not know much of what that entailed, only that Ames changed his body. If he were any other person, he would not understand why, but he knew his brother well enough to know this operation was to make himself feel good.

“You’re staring at me!” Ames folded his arms, hugging himself defensively.

“I was looking at your scars,” Leo admitted.

“Well, don’t!” Ames protested in an effeminate squeak.

“You shouldn’t be ashamed of your scars,” Leo said, hoping to calm his brother down, “It’s just like fighting. You get a battle scar. It’s something to be proud of. Right?”

Ames nodded slowly, “Yea.”

“Scars are just a memory,” Leo went on, trying to sound like an older brother should probably sound to his little brother.

“It’s not the same,” Ames sat up, turning his back to Leo.

He was certainly not going to leave things like this, so Leo sat up and scooted closer. He was careful as he moved up beside Ames. His brother was cringing away from him.

“Ames, you have nothing to hide,” he said to him, “And why would you hide? Aren’t you proud?”

Ames made a frustrated noise and buried his face against his bare knees. He pulled his legs right up against his chest, as if that might make his face disappear.

“What?” Leo responded.

“You don’t get it,” Ames’ voice was muffled against his skin, “I can’t even get these scars to heal.”

“Why not? When did you have the operation?” Leo inquired.

Ames suddenly raised his head and gave Leo an incredulous look, “Twenty years ago! Remember when I was disbanded, and you stayed to fight like…robots or something?”

“Yes,” Leo nodded, unsure of his brother’s current mental state.

“I met a Medic who said she- I mean they, they would do my operations and help me,” Ames explained.

“Okay, twenty years,” Leo pondered how long it generally took a scar to disappear. As of late, being on respawn made it impossible for him to heal new scars, as they simply stopped existing.

“Well, Mann Co called me back and I had to plea for a rescan,” Ames explained, “I can never get rid of these damn scars! Not as long as…respawn…is a thing. And this…stupid job.”

“Why did you come back? Why didn’t you tell them you couldn’t come back yet?” Leo offered.

“Because operations and T are expensive and to use Mann Co services, you have to stay in employment,” Ames explained in frustration.

“Tea? Tea is not that expensive,” Leo felt confused for the moment.

“Now my meds aren’t even coming for some reason. Not that it matters,” Ames hugged his legs tighter, “I’m too small. I probably could not take the medicine safely anyways.”

Leo tried to process the key components. There were operations that required healing as well as monetary transactions. The particular Medic was an employee of Mann Co, requiring Ames to be an employee of Mann Co. There was medication that Ames was required to take, but for unknown reasons it had not arrived recently.

“Medication?” he rubbed his chin as he pondered that part of it.

“Yea,” Ames replied, “Testosterone? You know, you never take notice that I’ve changed. I take medicine every day. Like my chin grows hair now. See?”

Leo looked at Ames’ chin where he was pointing. He leaned a bit closer and squinted. “Let me see,” he took Ames’ chin and tilted it up. Sure enough there were maybe two bristles trying to grow from his jawline. “What do you know? You are growing facial hair.”

“Yea! But you never notice that,” Ames sounded disgruntled as he turned away again.

“Well, nobody pays attention to every little detail of a man,” Leo argued.

“You do,” Ames argued.

“No no,” Leo looped an arm over his brother’s shoulders, “I surely don’t pay attention to who is growing a five o’clock shadow. That would be unfair to both Scouts, who can’t seem to grow so much as a pathetic mustache.”

Ames chuckled and blushed. There was the small start of a smile forming on his lips. Leo was pushing in the right direction.

“Sure, I didn’t notice that you were growing hair,” Leo went on.

“You noticed my chest changed,” Ames gave him a glare.

“That…was only because I poked around in files,” Leo admitted hesitantly.

“What were you doing that for? That’s private,” Ames protested.

“It doesn’t matter,” Leo waved off the topic, “Look, it doesn’t matter what little details there are. You’re a man and I think everybody notices that. You were really self-conscious about your voice when you got here…most of the guys were just not paying attention, but they noticed that you have a lower octave mannish voice now. They didn’t notice it in particular, but it’s one of the very little details that have changed that kind of made you…settle down. You know? You’re a man and everybody knows it. I know it. How you’re different from other men doesn’t matter.”

There was silence after that. Leo decided not to stare at Ames. He stared out past the edge of the bed. He just let it sink into Ames’ mind.

Ames’ arm moved up to hug his shoulders. He glanced at his brother, who had relaxed significantly. They both looked away though.

“Thanks, Leo,” Ames said.


	6. The RED Spy Stays Away

Upon entering his chambers, he was certain that something was off. His nerves were already shot from having two strange men in his space. It drove him crazy knowing they were in his personal space. So, when the Engineer first set foot in his room, he was not sure what it was that was off.

He finally looked around. He glanced warily at the cushion where he left the RED Spy. Then he glanced at the table where he left the BLU Spy. He looked at the corner where the RED Spy should be and dropped what he was holding.

“Doggone it!” he proclaimed.

He rushed over to the table and searched around. The BLU Spy was nowhere to be found. He even opened the drawer to see if he had gotten in. The BLU Spy was not anywhere to be found here. He looked down at the floor where the RED Spy’s cushion had ended up by the bedside table. Why was that moved?

He kicked the cushion on the floor aside and got down on hands and knees. He dug around under the bed, searching desperately for signs of them.

“Spy? Where are you? Please come out!” he pleaded with them, but there was not even a response.

When he did not find a response, he hurried from his room. Any number of things could have happened to him. His biggest worry was that they somehow got out. Sure, they were grown men who were capable of killing other men. These were tiny men who could be crushed by boots though. Any number of things could happen to them and hurt them.

Where to look for them was a terrifying question. They could not get far fast, but the clever fiends could have found faster transportation or short cuts. While he was away, they could have gotten anywhere in the base for all he knew.

He started at a clip walk, scanning the area for any signs of them. They could easily be strolling along a hallway or sneaking through a vent. Whether they were or not was up to him to find out. He just hoped he found them in time to protect them from potential dangers.

“Hey Engie!” Scout’s voice caught his attention. He was surprised and spun to face the younger mercenary. “You look like you’re on a mission? Going somewhere important?”

“I’m looking for s-” he cut himself off and shook himself, “I’m uh…searching.”

“You lost something? A wrench or something?” Scout asked, with a clip and hasty tone.

“Something like that,” he could not resist an urge to scratch his arm.

“What is it? Maybe I can help?” Scout offered.

“No,” he worried about what might happen if Scout found out that the Spies were both shrunk down. What would he say about the RED Spy being in the BLU Engineer’s care too? There was a stark difference between the friendly RED Scout and the distant and serious RED Spy. “I think I can find them on my own,” the Engineer explained.

“Well, I came looking for you because Heavy needs a hand,” Scout insisted, “Maybe you’d like to stop and give the big guy a few minutes of your time?” There was something oddly peculiar about Scout’s behavior, but he could not put his finger on it.

“I really need to find them- these things,” he insisted as Scout stepped closer.

Scout looped an arm around his shoulders, “Come on! Big guy has been wracking his brain over it all morning! He could really use your help.”

“Maybe you could find somebody else to help him out?” the Engineer pleaded, frustrated that he was being pulled away from his goal of finding the Spies.

“It’s more of something up your alley,” Scout insisted as he escorted him down the hallway, “An Engineer kind of problem. You know?”

“I need to find them,” the Engineer gave a little resistance.

BLU Scout was surprisingly strong for a gangly boy. Under his clothes was a hidden set of muscles that had been trained to push, pull and swing things with ease. His legs were also strong, not just build for running but also built for pushing, whereas the BLU Engineer’s legs lacked any muscle definition.

“I promise, I’ll help you find them,” Scout insisted, “Just help Heavy and then we’ll find them together. Okay?”

“I need to find them,” the Engineer insisted, “It’s important.”

“Compromise,” Scout insisted, “You describe them to me, and I’ll look for them! That way, you can help Heavy with his problem and somebody will still look for them.”

“I need to look for them myself,” the Engineer insisted.

“You can look for them after,” Scout insisted.

The Engineer was about to protest when he realized where Scout had brought him. It was the respawn room full of lockers. Heavy was there, working on some panel that had been torn out of the wall. Irritation made a throbbing headache in the Engineer’s dome, frustrated that this was happening while he needed to be looking for the Spies.

“I found Engineer!” Scout called.

Heavy looked over his shoulder, “Good! Engineer, need your help.” The big man beckoned him over.

“What did ya’ll do?” he asked.

“There was a little accident,” Scout admitted with a wince.

“What?” the Engineer looked at the Scout warily.

“Please Engineer,” the Heavy drew his attention back to the panel with a hand on his shoulder, “Please help fix.”

“Fine,” he growled, “If it will get you two to stop and leave me alone.”

“Sure! And then me and Heavy will help you find the things you were looking for!” Scout said with delight in his tone.

“I would rather find them on my own,” he said as he brought a set of wires out of the panel to look at their conditions. It looked like something had been burned. “Who caused an explosion?”

“Well um…” Scout rubbed the back of his neck.

“Not matter how panel burned,” Heavy insisted, “It needs fix.”

The Engineer sighed as he turned his attention back to the panel. There were several burnt out wires that would need replaced. Most of the rest of it just needed to be reset in its proper place. Maybe a few more pieces could stand to be replaced.

“I don’t know why I’ve become stuck doing this,” he grumbled as he pulled pieces out and reset pieces that were not blown apart.

“Is not possible for repairs man to come today,” Heavy insisted, “Is not good idea.”

“Not a good idea,” the Engineer echoed in an irritated mumble.

“Is nice that Engineer can fix,” the Heavy said.

“Yea sure,” he mumbled, tossing another piece that would have to be replaced aside.

The Heavy stayed there, lingering over his shoulder like a foreboding presence. It frustrated the Engineer, but he did not know how he was going to make the Heavy go away. He did not seem to realize that the Engineer liked working alone. The bigger man did not realize that he needed some space to do this work.

He tried to rationalize through what he should do about it. It did not seem like it was going to change. Heavy was not moving away. In fact, it almost seemed like he was watching over him. Like maybe there was something going on and this was a ploy to monitor him.

No, he told himself. He shook off the thought stubbornly. Scout was not smart enough to devise something so clever. Heavy would never do something that mean either. The man was not unkind.

Granted, Scout was not that unkind either. Both of these men were pretty great guys. They were the type of men you wanted to hang around, even if being in a big group was uncomfortable. He did not mind sitting with Heavy or Scout if he was stuck in an inescapable social situation.

 

 

It took so long to finish that damn panel. He was not even sure how they had managed to ruin it so much. With Heavy yacking in his ears and Scout constantly misunderstanding what parts he needed for replacement. The two of them were irritating him, but he would never tell them that. That would just be mean.

Scout was not even around for too long. He would bring what he thought the Engineer needed, get yelled at about what he actually needed to bring, then run off to find it. He was barely even around for the Engineer to notice his presence too much. He did not stick around to talk. He did not make his presence known more than to deliver parts and request a new parts list.

It was Heavy who was constantly there. His presence there seemed to have no reason. Maybe he was just invested in getting this panel fixed, but the Engineer did not know why. He constantly wanted to talk to him too. It was mostly stuff that was irrelevant to what was going on, so it seemed like he just wanted to be social. Unlike him, the Engineer just wanted to get this job done, not to socialize. He did not have any interest to talk about what foods they were cooking up for dinner, or how interesting it was that Pyro was good at cooking. He did not want to discuss the possible outcomes for tomorrow’s fights, especially not when some part of his mind knew both teams would be suspiciously down a class. The worst part about it was that the man just kept moving to topic after topic, pulling out whatever he could think of to talk about. He did not seem to see that it was annoying the Engineer.

He managed to fix the panel to functional use. It would take a bit more work to make it function in pristine condition. At least it was functional on a base level. It would have to do for now. Maybe when he was in a better working mood, he could return to this project and fix the panel.

“Alright,” he sighed and closed his eyes. It was time to mentally prepare himself for the next project. Of course, he needed to remind himself of what he needed to do next. He felt so tired that he was not fully able to prepare himself for another project.

“Engineer is credit to team!” the Heavy smiled and slapped his back.

“Yea he is!” Scout cheered and gave a thumbs up. The angle of the younger man’s hand made it look like it was directed at the Heavy, rather than at the Engineer. “Let’s go get some of those sweet tacos Pyro is cooking!”

“I don’t want sweet tacos,” the Engineer protested, disgusted at the thought of sugar in a tortilla of meat and vegetables.

“What?” Scout gave him a look of disbelief, “Tacos are awesome!”

“Not if you put sugar in them, they’re not,” he protested, “I’ll ask Pyro for a sugarless one, if I can.”

Heavy chuckled and followed in step with the Engineer, “Is not sweet. He is just say tacos are good.”

“Oh,” Engineer shot Scout a wary look, as he retraced his steps. Scout had pulled him aside to ask for his help. At that time he had been looking for…

“Spy!” he stopped in his tracks as the declaration left his lips. He was astonished at himself for losing focus on that important task. He turned on his heels and ran, horrified that it has been a few hours since he stopped that task. It felt awful that the tiny Spies could be anywhere by now. They could be dead now for all he knew.

“Engineer!” Scout called after him.

“Not now boys!” he called back, not daring to look over his shoulder. He kept his focus ahead and ran as fast as his awkward legs could carry him.

“Engineer! It is lunch time!” the Heavy called to him.

“Another time, boys,” he called, focused on what he must do. He would go to his room and try and trace their steps. They were too tiny to go too far, surely they would be within the BLU base.

 

*********************************************************************

 

“Well,” Ames sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. Next time, he wanted to get his shampoo and conditioner from the shower. Maybe they could just figure out how to use that next.

“Well what?” Leo pressed.

“Shall we head back to Engie’s room?” he asked.

“What for?” there was a sharp tone in Leo’s voice.

“I dunno. I suppose check and see how progress on the teleporter has gone,” Ames suggested.

“You can do that on your own, can’t you?” Leo inquired.

“Why would I?” Ames inquired, a bit taken aback and irritated at Leo’s attitude.

“Because, I’m the RED Spy. You’re the BLU Spy. He’s the BLU Engineer,” Leo explained, as if it were somehow obvious.

“Yea? And he’s going to help us,” Ames nodded, “He made a mistake. Now he’s going to fix the mistake. He is going to help you too.”

“I’m collateral damage to him,” Leo argued, pulling his mask over his head, “If there’s one thing I know about that man, he hates me.”

“Whaaaaat?” Ames scoffed, “Engie doesn’t hate anybody.”

“You sure about that?” Leo shot Ames a glare.

Ames quickly looked away. It felt really awkward to be here like this. And after the time they spent together, just hanging out as brothers, this felt weird. Changing into their clothes together felt like a very aggressive moment. Being here, getting back into their attires felt like they were being reminded of the killer Spies that they were.

“There is a natural rivalry that we have,” Leo explained.

“I don’t have a rivalry with the RED Engineer!” Ames declared defiantly.

“That’s because you’re different from me,” Leo explained, “And Francis is different. Francis focuses on friends and coworkers. He can see the worth in a man as an ally off the battlefield. Paul is a self-centered overly focused hardhat with his head so far up his ass he cannot see when things are just not working out his way for him to retreat.”

Ames frowned, “That’s a sour commentary of the Engineer.”

“What do you expect?” Leo asked hotly.

“A little gratitude for his hospitality would be a start,” Ames folded his arms over his chest in frustration.

“What hospitality?” Leo threw his hands up in exasperation, “Do you think he really think that he is doing any of this out of the kindness of his heart? No! He tossed us a couple of cushions for our trouble and refused to fix the mess he has made!”

“He is fixing it, Leo!” Ames protested in frustration, “You are so impatient!”

“I’m impatient?” Leo scoffed, “You haven’t even noticed the way the man throws himself at you. Yes? The way he stares at you? The way he follows you like a lost puppy when you’re around?”

“I don’t know what you’re trying to get to, brother,” Ames responded in irritation, “But it’s starting to annoy me. I suggest you change your subject. He _is_ putting up with us in his space, after all. That may not be big to you – which knowing you that would actually be a huge thing – to him it is something very unnatural and weird.”

“You are not even listening to me, are you?” Leo was growing more and more frustrated, “Did you even hear what I said?”

“Yes, I heard you loud and clear,” Ames folded his arms over his chest, “I don’t appreciate your lack of appreciation, Leo.”

“I don’t appreciate your ignorance, Ames,” his brother responded by folding his arms over his chest.

“What are you talking about? I’m not being ignorant! You’re just being an ass!” Ames declared.

“You’re so ignorant,” Leo rolled his eyes.

“I’m ignorant? You’re the one writing off the Engineer’s efforts to help us!” Ames threw his arms up into the air, “Just because you aren’t catered to doesn’t mean you get to write off other peoples’ efforts!”

“I’m not writing off his efforts, Ames,” Leo rolled his eyes again, “You are just staying blind to his goals and views.”

“I’m not blind,” Ames growled, “You’re just an asshole.”

He grabbed the string to pull himself up and out of the sink. Once he reached the top rim, he pulled his mask over his head. He used the reflective surface of the faucet to make sure he got it straight and neat. He hopped from the sink onto the shelves and made his way down.

“Mark my words, Ames,” Leo called down to him, “That man will crush me as soon as help me. It is you he wishes to help.”

“You’re crazy,” Ames waved an arm dismissively as he made his way out of the bathroom.

“Where are you going?” Leo called after him.

“Back to the Engineer’s room, where we should make sure he’s not freaking out,” Ames stepped into the hole made in his bedroom wall. He sighed as he thought about what a nuisance it would be later.

“Well I’m not going,” Leo called after him.

“Fine! Stay here!” Ames called to him, before climbing into the wall. Leo called something more, but his voice was inaudible within the wall from such a distance. It did not matter anyways. Ames was aiming for the Engineer’s room to make sure everything was alright.

He made his way slowly through the wall. It was so dusty in there that it was hard to get through without getting dust on his suit. He was surprised to come out at the other side with such minimal marks of dirt on his person. He brushed away what little dust was on his suit, straightening himself out and gaining his composure before he headed out into the open.

He was surprised to see the Engineer digging through a drawer. His bedroom floor had been turned into a mess of personal items, mostly clothing items that he dug out of the drawer. The man himself was breathing loudly and sounded like he was searching desperately for something.

“Whoa, what did you lose?” Ames inquired.

“What huh?” the Engineer looked around, flinching with surprise. He looked like he was panicked as he searched for the source of Ames’ voice.

“Easy,” Ames raised his hands as he approached, “It’s just me, mon ami. I’m right over here.”

“Spy!” the Engineer was surprised as he found the small Spy, “Where the hell have you been? What were you doing?”

“My room,” Ames answered.

There was a long silence. The Engineer just seemed to have lost what to say when he heard this. He stared at Ames for a long time, wordless as to how to handle this. Ames was not even sure what to say after that, because he was not sure what the Engineer was thinking, or if he had stopped thinking.

“Your room?” the Engineer finally inquired.

Ames nodded, “Yea. I went to my room. I do have a room in this base. You know that.”

“What? Why would you go there?” the Engineer raised his hands with exasperation in his confusion.

“Why not?” he shrugged, “It’s my own chambers. I might as well go there. I don’t even know why I didn’t go there earlier.”

“I was looking for you for hours!” the Engineer exclaimed, “You could have gotten hurt! You could have gotten caught by a rat or a rat hunting cat!”

“I only went to my room,” Ames insisted.

“You…you…” the Engineer frowned as he thought about this.

“I figured you would be working on the teleporter throughout the day anyways. Right?” Ames insisted, “I might as well be out of the way then.”

The Engineer shook himself, “What about the RED Spy? I can’t find him anywhere! Do you know where he went? He could be snooping around personal things.”

“No no,” Ames gestured dismissively, “Don’t worry. He is fine. He is not snooping through anybody’s things.”

“But…he…” worry sat in the Engineer’s eyes.

“Trust me,” Ames insisted. He walked over to pat the Engineer’s leg. “He is not where he can cause any harm. He won’t be bothering you until you finish that teleporter. Alright?”

“You should tell me where he is though,” he insisted.

“Trust me, Engineer,” Ames patted his leg again.

“Please tell me,” the Engineer was not giving up on this.

Ames sighed, “He is in my chambers. There, he won’t cause any trouble.”

The Engineer rose to his feet, “Let’s go to your room.”

“What?” Ames was not expecting this, especially not as a demand. The Engineer did not usually act this demanding. “My room is private, Engineer. I’m not comfortable bringing you there. Besides, it’s not like I went in the front door at this height.”

“The RED Spy is in your room,” the Engineer bent down and picked him up. He did not even have a chance to get away, he was just snatched up like an inanimate toy.

“Yes, and he’ll stay there…for now,” Ames insisted nervously.

“We need to go there and get him,” he insisted, “We’re going together.”

“Engineer, no,” he said sternly.

“We need to go and get him,” the Engineer insisted.

“Paul!” Ames raised his voice, causing the Engineer to fall silent. He waited a few moments as he made sure that the Engineer was not going to talk over him. “You are not to set foot in my chambers.”

“But…I…” the Engineer’s brow furrowed in worry.

“I said no,” Ames repeated himself, “We’re not going to my room. Now set me down.”

He waited for the Engineer to turn and bring him to the bedside table. He set him there and watched him adjust his suit. Ames took his time with adjusting his suit, letting the Engineer watch him preen like a bird.

“I don’t appreciate being manhandled,” he raised his head to look up at the Engineer.

The Engineer immediately tried to defend himself, “I just-”

“We’re friends,” he softened his tone a bit, “Am I right? We can trust each other.”

“Yes…of course,” the Engineer looked worried again, “You can trust me, Spy.”

“Then you can trust me. Right?” Ames pressed.

“I…but…just…” the Engineer hesitantly pleaded.

“Then trust me when I say that I have taken care of the Spy,” Ames insisted, “You won’t see much of him. He’ll just stay there out of the way. And then when the teleporter is finished, I’ll bring him back here.”

The Engineer looked away from him. He looked like there were doubts on his mind. He looked like he was trying to design some complicated plan to get around the Spy’s words.

“Are you going to trust me?” Ames demanded.

The Engineer sighed again. Finally, he nodded. He seemed to finally just give in. He was not yet voicing his thoughts though.

“Paul?” he pressed.

The Engineer smiled at him, “You know me too well, Spy.”

Ames smiled back at him, “And you know I can handle the RED Spy. Right?”

The Engineer nodded, “Yes. I trust your ability to do that.”

“Good,” Ames’ smile grew a bit, “So…” His voice cut off as he was interrupted by his stomach growling. “Are you hungry? I’m hungry.”


	7. Awkward Space

Ames was surprised to find that tacos was on the menu for today. He did not bother Leo for now. If he was really hungry, he would come looking for food. The Engineer was not worried about the Red Spy either right now. In fact, he was rather engrossed in conversation with Ames. Ames was not sure they had ever sat down and ate alone together before. It was nice.

When the time came for sleep, Paul did not think twice. He just made up the makeshift bed for Ames, like he did not already have a way to get back to his own room. Unable to turn down a gracious act, he accepted the bed. He made himself comfortable and fell asleep before the Engineer did.

 

The next morning, the Engineer brought in eggs and bacon for breakfast. A hearty meal for the man, but definitely not Ames’ favorite. The bacon just seemed extremely greasy from this perspective. The eggs were alright, but all of the fixings in them were cut to a size that was as big as his head.

“Sorry, partner,” Paul apologized, “I’ve never cooked for somebody so small before.”

“It’s alright,” Ames was doing his best eating the eggs with his hands. He could not necessarily use a giant utensil, after all.

They talked sparsely, before the Engineer headed to his work. Ames was left there to finish what was on his plate, and he decided to tell Leo to come and get some food. Skipping one meal was being bratty, but skipping two was just irresponsible. Besides, he could not stay frustrated with his brother when they were both dealing with the same predicament.

He made his way carefully through the wall to his own room. He found Leo sitting on the floor with one of his books. He was not much of a reader, so he had to be extremely bored and out of things to do to be that dedicated to a book.

“Leo! Go get breakfast!” he announced from across the room.

“What?” Leo looked up from the page, giving him a squinty-eyed look.

“Leo, come on,” he gestured for his brother to come to the hole in the wall, “There’s eggs and bacon for breakfast.”

Leo gave a loud sigh, “What? We can’t have something normal and edible?”

“What would you prefer? To nibble on the papers of my books?” Ames gestured to the book on the floor.

“I don’t know,” Leo rolled his eyes, “Toast?”

“I don’t know how you expect to chew on a giant piece of toast,” Ames mocked, “But the eggs are pretty easy to eat.”

“With what fork?” Leo scoffed.

“I don’t think you’ve considered that at this size, everything is finger food,” Ames told him irritably, “There is no other way.”

As if to agree to Ames’ point, Leo’s stomach began growling. Leo was even startled by the sound. He must not have eaten since the morning they stepped through the teleporters.

Ames frowned, “You’re going to starve yourself otherwise.”

Leo huffed and got to his feet. He mumbled as he fumbled. He brushed away the dirt from his suit, ignoring the wrinkles that had formed since he had been lounging in it. They both turned and went through the wall together, taking the path with care, as it was still dark.

 

The tension seemed to have dissipated as the two of them talked. Like brothers and friends again, they were chatting over egg. At some point a joke was made about throwing egg like little boys, but neither of them would be the first. In fact, they both became stoically quiet at the suggestion. When neither of them threw any food, they eventually began talking again, chatting away in their mother tongue.

They had wandered off to sit on the bed, since the quilted blanket was a much more cushioned seat, leaving a mountain of eggs still poised upon the plate on the bedside table. When Paul finally came in, Ames was not sure if it was the cold wasted eggs or something else that suddenly bothered him, because he was suddenly agitated.

Fiddling with some twine beneath his hands, Paul moved toward his dresser to change his shirt, apparently having spilled something hot all over his sleeve and destroying it. Ames watched him warily. The curious man was usually very nervous, but this time he was not even giving into his interest. He barely even looked at the two little men seated on his bed. He seemed to not want to disturb them, or perhaps he just did not want to be disturbed.

Movement caught the corner of his eye. He turned to see Leo eyeing the Engineer thoughtfully. His thumb was rubbing against the inside of his palm. His face bespoke wariness, but the stimulation seemed to be impatience.

Leo caught him staring and flashed him a momentary smile. It was an awkward look for him, especially given how little he usually smiled. It looked so forced on his usually placid and stoic face.

“The Engineer is quite nervous, isn’t he?” Leo inquired in their native language.

“I suppose so,” Ames hesitantly shifted on the bed, trying to turn so it was not so obvious that he was looking at the Engineer, “I think it would help if we were not staring at him every time he comes into his room.”

Leo smacked his lips loudly, “You know what you’re problem is?”

Ames looked at the Red Spy, not sure of what to say. He was not expecting a challenge like this. He was sure he was meant to inquire about it, but he did not find a sound on his tongue. His voice was just trapped in his throat forever.

“You baby him,” Leo gave a firm nod.

“Baby him?” Ames lowered his eyelids and raised his brows, “Seriously?”

Leo nodded again, “Yes! You baby him. Every time he comes around, now and before this, you baby him. He is always babied by you. Why do you not let him be an adult man instead?”

“I do let him be an adult man!” Ames protested with a scoff, “I am not his father!”

“Then stop pretending,” Leo’s voice lowered a bit.

“Pretending what? I’m not pretending anything!” Ames let out an exasperated sigh. Not this again, he thought. He was quite tired of Leo going on about the Engineer.

“Look,” Leo began, “I can see that you are trying to protect your friend. He’s a grown man though. He has been through things worse than his little crush on you. You need to be firm with him. Or else? We’re the ones who suffer for it.”

“I don’t see how we’re suffering,” Ames protested, “Besides, look…he is working on the teleporter. He just needs time to work on it.”

“And what did he spill on himself?” Leo gestured to the Engineer who was approaching the door, “Hmm? What about that sleeve? What about any of that has to do with a teleporter?”

“Maybe he was working with some molten metal?” Ames shrugged. He was not sure he knew what all the work of an Engineer outside of work hours entailed.

“You let him walk out of here without that reminder that you’re waiting on him, and he’ll walk all over you,” Leo argued.

Ames sighed, “If he has a crush, like you say he does, then wouldn’t he be trying to fix this faster? Would he not be trying to impress me?”

“Not if it means he can have you to himself,” the Red Spy countered.

“That’s insane,” Ames shook his head, “I’m at…how tall are we? Centimeters? Millimeters?”

“We’re not small enough for that,” Leo shook his head.

“Whatever,” Ames dismissed the question, “The point is that if I am his crush he would be trying to impress me. I know he is doing his best either way, because we are friends. And your insane theory is just that, insane. If ever somebody had a crush turn the size of a doll, it would be a nightmare to deal with. I mean, what with all the stuff that one would want to do with a crush.”

Leo had an impressed look on his face, enough to make Ames grin with satisfaction. The Engineer was out the door and Leo turned to watch it click shut. He let out a long sigh.

“You forget that we work with mercenaries,” Leo responded.

“Why do you have to go back to that?” Ames rolled his eyes.

“Because, in general, most of our coworkers are unstable. To match them, your Engineer is not mentally all there. Not entirely,” Leo explained.

Ames scoffed, “Then you don’t know the Engineer entirely too well!”

Leo burst into laughter that did not last long, “And you do?”

“He’s a sweet man!” Ames protested, “He does not deserve to be bad mouthed like this!”

“And we deserve to be placed in a goddamn situation that calls for us to be trapped at his whims? Like mice in a cage?” Leo protested, raising his voice slightly.

“We are not at his whims!” Ames protested, “Besides, we have my room to retreat to.”

“Only because I got us there! You were willing to accept the idea of just going along with staying in his room!” Leo protested.

“Simply because I trust him,” Ames shook his head, “You’ve been stubborn and hateful of him since the very beginning.”

“I don’t hate the man,” Leo’s voice softened, as he seemed to be contemplating the suggestion, “Rather, he hates me and he lets me know it.”

“On the battlefield,” Ames scoffed, “You have never gotten to know him. You do not know what he is like when he is not on the clock and on the job.”

Leo rolled his eyes, “You would say that about anybody.”

“Because it’s true!” Ames exclaimed, “Blue Sniper and Blue Scout are relentlessly vicious and merciless towards the Red Scout, but off the battlefield they are kind and loving.”

“That’s different,” Leo protested.

When he did not follow up his statement with something more, Ames felt his face grow hot with anger, “How? How is that any different?”

“It’s an example of two men who are in love with a man they are supposed to hate,” Leo gave his explanation promptly, as if he could have given it before, “They are protecting one another by what they do on the battlefield. It is off the battlefield that they get to apologize. Something that your Engineer doesn’t ever do for anybody.”

“Well, it’s not like he really gets a chance,” Ames rolled his eyes, “You don’t exactly stick around. You slink off like some self-absorbed cat.”

“I’m a spy, I need to keep my distance,” Leo held up a forefinger, then he lifted a second finger, “And your Engineer doesn’t so much as apologize to anybody. He slinks off to his space and never talks to anybody he’s injured, killed or insulted.”

“It’s part of the job to do all of that,” Ames protested, “You can’t hold a grudge when you do the same.”

“Yes, but I do not expect to be babied if I don’t apologize for putting a blade in your back,” Leo lifted his nose a bit.

“You’re impossible to discuss things with,” Ames growled.

“I wasn’t impossible,” Leo wriggled his fingers as quotations, “before we discussed your Engineer.”

Ames sighed, “Leo, you’re the one who brought him up. I am not against discussing this, but you’re being impossible. Until you recognize and do something about that, it’s your label.”

“And you’re incredibly dense,” Leo shook his head.

“Dense?” Ames scoffed, “You’re calling me stupid?”

“No, I’m calling you dense in the skull,” Leo waved it off as if the meaning was somehow different, “You have this Engineer crushing on you and yet you refuse to acknowledge what it is. It’s a problem to us right now. And if you don’t do something about it soon, it is going to be a problem to you.”

“And you think now is the appropriate time to bring something like that up to him? I know how to handle timing,” Ames tried to be dismissive of Leo’s words, “And I know how to handle my friends.

“Well, he is your friend,” Leo shrugged, “I can’t do anything about him.”

Ames sighed and climbed off the bed. He decided he had had enough of this discussion. He would just go have some alone time in his room. It was about time he had his room to himself after all. He wanted to curl up on his own bed and sleep away the frustrating thoughts that were now flowing through his head because of his brother.


End file.
